Two dominant signal callers in Hayden Fletcher and Luke Haugo are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. After each having a week off, the Liberty Lions and the Higley Knights will dust off their jerseys to challenge one another at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Liberty is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Arizona's top teams: Centennial, who was ranked 16th in their home state at the time (Liberty was ranked second). Liberty took their matchup last Friday with ease, bagging a 45-17 win over Centennial. Winning may never get old, but the Lions sure are getting used to it with their sixth in a row.
Liberty got their victory on the backs of several key players, but it was Fletcher out in front who threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns. Dominic Lombardo helped Fletcher out on the ground, rushing for 84 yards and a touchdown.
Liberty wouldn't let Centennial keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Malaki Payes, Cannon Garday, and Tyvel Calloway picked up one apiece. Liberty got some further help from Hudson Dunn: he picked up 1.5 sacks and made seven total tackles (4.5 for loss).
Meanwhile, Higley hadn't done well against Williams Field recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way last Friday. Higley blew past Williams Field, posting a 41-7 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Knights.
Gunner Fagrell had an outrageously good game as he threw for 351 yards and four touchdowns while completing 79.4% of his passes, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Jaden Taylor was Fagrell's top target, picking up 109 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Higley's defense and their five sacks. Jayden Rhodes was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up two himself. He is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made eight or more in the last three games he's played. Another thorn in Williams Field's side was Boston Tilton, who picked up a sack and made 12 total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Higley's victory was their eighth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 7-3. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 31.2 points. As for Liberty, their win bumped their record up to 9-1.
The upcoming game will be a clash of competing strengths. Liberty has relied on air attacks this season and has averaged 271.4 passing yards per game. Higley, on the other hand, has relied on a stout run game: they average 148.9 rushing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
