The Tucson High Magnet School Badgers will venture away from home to take on the Cactus Shadows Falcons at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Tucson High Magnet School lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Ironwood Ridge, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Friday's contest. The Badgers blew past the Nighthawks 36-12 on Friday. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Badgers just coasted through the last quarter.
Derek Mesa
| 10/24/25 vs Ironwood Ridge | 37 |
| 09/12/25 @ Walden Grove | 33 |
| 08/29/25 vs Mountain View | 27 |
| 09/13/24 vs Cienega | 24 |
| 10/18/24 vs Maricopa | 18 |
Derek Mesa was a one-man wrecking crew as he threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 14.4 yards per attempt, and also rushed for 37 yards and one TD. Those 37 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Makoa Pena, who rushed for 108 yards and one score on only nine carries.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Tucson High Magnet School proved: they limited Ironwood Ridge to a paltry 2.8 yards per carry. The team can thank Dominic Drow for the heroic effort on defense: he. Tucson High Magnet School's run defense has been on the up-and-up: they allowed 4.37 yards per carry earlier this season, but they've only allowed 7.47 on average over their last five games.
Tucson High Magnet School's defense didn't let Maximus Harder, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for 4.5 sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Miles Jose and Devante Cota, who racked up four sacks between them. Drow was another major factor on D, forcing one fumble and making 12 total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Cactus Shadows earned a 21-14 victory over Chaparral on Thursday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Falcons.
Tucson High Magnet School better keep an eye on Donivan Dixon. He was instrumental in Cactus Shadows' win, throwing for 256 yards and a pair of TDs, while also rushing for 77 yards. Dixon's passing game has become a key predictor of the Falcons' success: the team is undefeated when his passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 0-4 otherwise. A healthy portion of Dixon's aerial production (80 yards to be exact) went to Alex Dafnis.
Cactus Shadows didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of James Wade and Tavion Johnson. Johnson is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made six or more in each of the last four games he's played.
Cactus Shadows now has a winning record of 5-4. As for Tucson High Magnet School, they now also have a winning record of 5-4.
