The Mission Heights Prep Phantoms will head out to take on the Heritage Academy Gateway Heroes at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
On Friday, Mission Heights Prep was able to grind out a solid victory over Skyline Prep, taking the game 18-8. The win continues a trend for the Phantoms in their matchups with the Bengals: they've now won three in a row.
Meanwhile, Heritage Academy Gateway made easy work of American Leadership Academy on Friday and carried off a 36-14 victory. Given the Heroes' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona football rankings (they are ranked ninth, while American Leadership Academy are ranked 154th) , the win wasn't entirely unexpected.
Heritage Academy Gateway's win came from a few key players Mission Heights Prep will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Tyler Lines, who rushed for 127 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only seven carries. That's the most rushing yards he has posted since back in October of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Caleb Baker, who rushed for 152 yards and one TD on only 11 carries.
Heritage Academy Gateway was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 413 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've managed all season.
Heritage Academy Gateway's record now sits at 6-3. As for Mission Heights Prep, they now have a winning record of 4-3.
Mission Heights Prep came up short against Heritage Academy Gateway in their previous matchup back in September, falling 32-24. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Heroes' Stratton Ellsworth, who rushed for 109 yards and four scores on only 14 carries. Now that the Phantoms know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
