Marcos de Niza is a perfect 6-0 against Tempe since September of 2015 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Padres will be playing in front of their home fans against the Buffaloes at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the contest red-hot, with Marcos de Niza sitting on four straight wins and Tempe on three.
On Friday, Marcos de Niza strolled past Greenway with points to spare, taking the game 49-34.
Jaeden Lott continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 271 yards and two TDs while completing 75% of his passes. A healthy portion of Lott's aerial production (92 yards to be exact) went to JD DuBose.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Marcos de Niza proved: they limited Greenway to a paltry 3.3 yards per carry. The team can thank Brian Irick for the heroic effort on defense: he. Marcos de Niza didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 7.9.
Nikolasi Tongauiha
| 10/24/25 vs Greenway | 8 |
| 10/17/25 @ Glendale | 8 |
| 10/10/25 vs Independence | 11 |
| 10/03/25 @ Moon Valley | 10 |
| 09/26/25 vs Snowflake | 7 |
| 09/19/25 @ Poston Butte | 12 |
Marcos de Niza's defensive line didn't let Manny Walker, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Nikolasi Tongauiha and Elian Pichardo, who racked up four sacks between them. Tongauiha is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made seven or more in each of the last six games he's played. Marcos de Niza got some further help from Gabe Andrade: he picked up a sack and made nine total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Tempe humbled Glendale with a 41-14 victory. The Buffaloes might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matchups by 27 points or more this season.
Marcos de Niza better keep an eye on Saul Mendez. He was instrumental in Tempe's win, throwing for 405 yards and five touchdowns, while also punching in one rushing score. Those 405 passing yards gave Mendez a new career-high. Tempe's leading receiver Mark Jackson was Mendez's top target yet again, picking up 108 receiving yards and a pair of scores.
Marcos de Niza's victory bumped their record up to 8-1. As for Tempe, their win bumped their record up to 6-3.
Thursday's game will pit two of the most dominant signal callers against one another: Lott and Mendez. Lott just won't slow down this season and has thrown 27 touchdowns while averaging 245.8 passing yards per game. Mendez has been a dominant force too and has thrown 25 touchdowns while averaging 224.8 passing yards per game.
Everything came up roses for Marcos de Niza against Tempe when the teams last played back in October of 2020, as the team secured a 48-6 victory. Will the Padres repeat their success, or do the Buffaloes have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
