Football Recap: Payson Takes Loss Despite Strong Efforts from Nathan Tsosie and Bert Scheer

After flying high against ALA - Mesa North last Friday, Payson came back down to earth. The Longhorns lost 30-6 to the Round Valley Elks on Saturday. The Longhorns were red-hot offensively heading into the matchup (they scored no less than 31 points in the five contests prior), but the Elks' defense proved too tough.

Bert Scheer and Nathan Tsosie certainly did their best on Saturday to avoid the loss. Scheer picked up 113 receiving yards and one TD, while Tsosie rushed for 63 yards on only eight carries. Scheer's longest reception was for an impressive 57 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per catch total.

Kage Finch was his usual excellent self, rushing for 106 yards and three scores on only 14 carries, while also throwing for 111 yards and one touchdown for Round Valley. Those three rushing touchdowns gave Finch a new career-high.

Having lost for the first time this season, Payson fell to 5-1. As for Round Valley, they pushed their record up to 5-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season.

Payson has already played their next game, a 43-14 win against Blue Ridge on the 3rd. As for Round Valley, they will have some time to savor their victory since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Show Low at 7:00 p.m. on the 10th. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 877 yards in their previous games.