The Eastmark Firebirds will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Apache Junction Prospectors at 7:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Eastmark has four straight wins, Apache Junction has five straight losses), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Eastmark put the finishing touches on their fifth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They were the clear victor by a 44-20 margin over Marcos de Niza. With Eastmark ahead 28-0 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
Coleman Samples was his usual excellent self, rushing for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Samples is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Mason Jensen, who threw for 177 yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Apache Junction was beaten by Snowflake 47-20 on Friday. Apache Junction was down 33-13 at the end of the third quarter, and things only got worse from there.
The losing side was boosted by Aiden Deleon, who rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns.
Eastmark's win was their fourth straight on the road, which bumped their overall record up to 7-2. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-8 Desert Sunrise and 4-5 Marcos de Niza (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 38.9% over those games). As for Apache Junction, their loss dropped their record down to 1-8.
Friday's match might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Eastmark has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 161.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Apache Junction struggles in that department as they've been averaging 155.3 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
