It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but St. Mary had no problem doing just that on Friday. They won a contest that couldn't have been any closer, slipping by the Deer Valley Skyhawks 29-28. That result was just more of the same for these two, as the Knights also won the last time the pair played back in October of 2022.

Luke Horn
| 11/07/25 vs Deer Valley | 66 |
| 10/31/25 vs ALA - West Foothills | 10 |
| 10/24/25 @ Paradise Honors | 32 |
| 10/17/25 @ Northwest Christian | 38 |
| 10/10/25 @ Thunderbird | 50 |
| + 5 more games |
A big part of St. Mary's win came down to the chemistry between Luke Horn and his top target Ezekiel Chavez. Horn rushed for 66 yards on only nine carries while Chavez rushed for 62 yards and one touchdown on only five carries. That's the most rushing yards Horn has posted since back in September.
St. Mary's was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 274 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to St. Mary's defense and their four sacks. Deer Valley's QB won't forget Nolan Brown anytime soon given he sacked him three times.
Despite the loss, Deer Valley still got an impressive performance from Adan Sanchez, who rushed for 130 yards and 18 TDs. Another player making a difference was Jaxson Hall, who picked up 122 receiving yards and six scores.
St. Mary's victory ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 7-4. As for Deer Valley, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-5.
Looking ahead, St. Mary's will face off against Arcadia at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Knights will need to watch out since the Titans have now posted at least 31 points in their last five games. Deer Valley does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps