Preview: Maricopa Rams vs. Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks
The Maricopa Rams will be playing in front of their home fans against the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
Last Friday, Maricopa was beaten by Mountain View 42-14. Maricopa was in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 35-7.
Although Maricopa took the loss, they still got scores from Khaleb Johnson and Diego Diaz.
Meanwhile, Ironwood Ridge had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 28.2 points), and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They claimed a resounding 54-0 victory over Nogales on the road. The result was nothing new for Ironwood Ridge, who have now won six games by 28 points or more so far this season.
Dominic Norris was his usual excellent self, throwing for 222 yards and four touchdowns on only 18 passes. Norris is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Matthew Kroner, who picked up 101 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Nogales to a paltry 34 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Ironwood Ridge's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid him out four times before it was all said and done. Leading the way was Oluwanifemi Femi-adeleye and his 2.5 sacks.
Maricopa has not been sharp recently, as they've lost four of their last five matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-5 record this season. As for Ironwood Ridge, their victory was their sixth straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 7-1.
