The Wickenburg Wranglers will venture away from home to challenge the Page Sand Devils at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Wickenburg's defense has only allowed 16.4 points per game this season, so Page's offense will have their work cut out for them.
Last Friday, Wickenburg came up short against River Valley and fell 15-8. The Wranglers haven't had much luck with the Dust Devils recently, as the team's come up short the last four times they've met.
Even if they lost, Wickenburg's defense still kept up the pressure with four sacks. Jesse Pittman was especially locked on to River Valley's QB and sacked him 2.5 times. Pittman also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 11. Wickenburg got some further help from Trent Jepsen: he picked up a sack and made 13 total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Page, who bounced back after a loss on the road on September 6th. They blew past Monument Valley 48-20 at home on Friday. That 28 point margin sets a new team best for the Sand Devils this season.
Joseph Benally was his usual excellent self, throwing for 404 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 13.9 yards per attempt, and also punching in a touchdown on the ground. What's more, he also racked up 28 rushing yards, the mosthe's had since back in August of 2023. A healthy portion of that aerial production (152 yards to be exact) went to Deegan Sparks, who also brought in two receiving touchdowns.
Wickenburg's loss dropped their record down to 3-2. As for Page, their win was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 3-1.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Wickenburg has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 176.2 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Page has preferred to attack from the air: they average 296.2 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Everything came up roses for Wickenburg against Page when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as the squad secured a 49-6 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Wickenburg since the team 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
