Two dominant backs in Joel Cooper and Khavontae Paul are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Willow Canyon Wildcats will venture away from home to square off against the Ironwood Eagles at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Given that the two teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
Last Friday, Willow Canyon lost to Apollo at home by a 38-20 margin.
Despite the defeat, Willow Canyon had strong showings from Roman Thuyns, who threw for 175 yards and three touchdowns, and Tyus Dragon, who picked up 89 receiving yards and two touchdowns. What's more, Thuyns also racked up 52 rushing yards, the most he's had since back in August. Willow Canyon also got a significant boost from Cooper, who ran away from the competition to the tune of 97 yards.
Meanwhile, a win for Ironwood just wasn't in the cards on Friday as the team wasn't able to take the lead at any point. They came up short against Desert Vista, falling 47-26. The Eagles have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Ironwood might have lost, but man, Paul was a machine: he rushed for 117 yards, and also threw for 80 yards and two touchdowns. That high mark didn't come from nowhere: Paul posted at least 117 rushing yards in the third games prior.
Even though they lost, Ironwood was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 225 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 179 rushing yards in eight consecutive matches.
Willow Canyon has been struggling recently as they've lost five of their last six games, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-5 record this season. As for Ironwood, their loss dropped their record down to 4-4.
Willow Canyon didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Ironwood in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, but they still walked away with a 15-10 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Willow Canyon since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
