If the Corona del Sol Aztecs were feeling good off their 45-14 takedown of the Desert Vista Thunder last Friday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. Corona del Sol took a 35-21 bruising from Casteel on Friday. The game was a 14-14 toss-up at halftime, but Corona del Sol was blown out by Casteel in the second.
Corona del Sol's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performance. Perhaps the best among them was Connor Ackerley, who threw for 257 yards and a touchdown while completing 75% of his passes. The team also got some help courtesy of Raiden Vines-bright, who picked up 108 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Leading Casteel to victory were Mason Lewis and Braden Greene. Lewis rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, while Greene rushed for 185 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.4 yards per carry.
Corona del Sol's loss was their third straight at home, which bumped their record down to 3-7. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 14.0 points per game. As for Casteel, their victory bumped their record up to 5-5.
Corona del Sol will head out on the road to face off against Salpointe Catholic at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Arizona (Salpointe Catholic is ranked 16th, while Corona del Sol is ranked 33rd). As for Casteel, they will look to defend their home field on Thursday against O'Connor at 7:00 p.m. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given how much these teams ran in their prior games.
