Football Preview: Higley Knights vs. Marana Tigers
The Higley Knights are taking a road trip to take on the Marana Tigers at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given how much these teams ran up and down the field in their prior games.
Marana is hoping to do what San Juan Hills couldn't on Friday: put an end to Higley's winning streak (dating back to last season), which now stands at eight games. Higley secured a 25-20 W over San Juan Hills. Given the Knights' advantage in MaxPreps' football rankings in their respective home states (they are ranked fifth in Arizona, while the Stallions are ranked 39th in California), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Higley's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Luke Haugo, who rushed for 47 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 184 yards on 16 of 27 attempts. That's the most rushing yards Haugo has posted since back in October of 2023. Higley also got help from John (Jd) Decausmaker, who showed off his sure hands for 81 receiving yards.
Higley was moving up and down the field and finished the game with 439 total yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as San Juan Hills only gained 306.
Higley's defense made their presence known, laying out Timmy Herr. four times. In that department, Boston Tilton was the leader with two sacks. He is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made seven or more in the last nine games he's played dating back to last season. Maxwell Siemen was another major factor on D, making 11 total tackles (2.0 for loss) and snagging an interception.
Meanwhile, Marana blew past Tucson High Magnet School, posting a 56-7 victory on the road. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Tigers.
A big part of the win came down to the chemistry between Colten Meyer and his top target Dezmen Roebuck. Meyer threw for 401 yards and five touchdowns while completing 78.1% of his passes while Roebuck picked up 101 receiving yards and three touchdowns. With that strong performance, Meyer is now averaging an impressive 332.5 passing yards per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Dominic Cillitto, who picked up 90 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Marana's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Roebuck and Dermain Linen Jr. Roebuck got the majority of those receiving yards when he pulled down a pass and took off for a gain of 73 yards.
Higley pushed their record up to 2-0 with that victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Marana, their record is now 2-0.
Higley didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Marana when the teams last played back in September of 2023, but they still walked away with a 29-24 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Higley since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
