Football Recap: North Canyon Piles Up the Points Against Rio Rico

A well-balanced attack led North Canyon over Rio Rico in every quarter on their way to victory on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Rattlers blew the Hawks out of the water with a 49-7 final score. With the Rattlers ahead 28-7 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.

A big part of North Canyon's win came down to the chemistry between Karlos Romandia and his top target Dom Dampier. Romandia threw for 313 yards and four touchdowns on only 19 passes while Dampier picked up 190 receiving yards and three scores. The dominant performance also gave Romandia a new career-high in passer rating (124.5). AJ Garcia was another key player, gaining 138 total yards and a touchdown.

North Canyon's run defense was locked in: Rio Rico could only muster three yards per carry. The team can thank Rhett Goodman for the heroic effort on defense: he. North Canyon's ground attack was stronger, having averaged 5.2.

Rattlers

Interceptions

Jemorion Barron	2
Jarell Hearod	1
Tyler Begaye	1

North Canyon didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. Jemorion Barron led the group effort, picking up two of those interceptions all by himself. Jarell Hearod has been hot recently, having also posted six or more total tackles the last four times he's played. North Canyon got some further help from Kevin Silva Lopez: he picked up a sack and made ten total tackles (3.0 for loss).

North Canyon's record now sits at 2-3. As for Rio Rico, their loss was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which dropped their record down to 1-4.

Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. North Canyon will square off against Maryvale at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The Rattlers will be up against the Panthers' rather soft defense (which has allowed 40.8 points per contest), so fans could be in store for a big offensive performance. As for Rio Rico, they will take on Sahuarita at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The matchup will give the Hawks their first taste of in-conference action this season.