If Round Valley was riding high fresh off their 41-15 takedown of Show Low last Thursday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Round Valley Elks took a 29-25 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Payson Longhorns. Despite 125 more yards than the Longhorns, the Elks couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
Despite the loss, Round Valley still got an impressive performance from Connor Lueker, who rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Round Valley was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 284 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Even if they lost, Round Valley's defense still kept up the pressure with seven sacks. Cody Finch was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up twohimself.
A big part of Payson's win came down to the chemistry between Nolan Keeney and his top target Keaton Potter. Keeney threw for 236 yards and three touchdowns while Potter picked up 73 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Round Valley's record now sits at 3-3. As for Payson, the victory (which was their third in a row) raised their record to 6-1.
Round Valley wasted no time getting back out on the field and has already played their next matchup, a 36-6 win against Safford on the 11th. As for Payson, they will get to enjoy the win for a while: their next game is against Blue Ridge at 7:00 p.m. on October 18th. Both have allowed few points on average, (Blue Ridge: 3.7, Payson: 15) so any points scored will be well earned.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
