The Copper Canyon Aztecs will head out to square off against the Desert Sunrise Golden Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
Copper Canyon is coming in off a wild two-game stretch: after soaring to 41 points two weeks ago, they were much more limited against Poston Butte on Thursday. They were dealt a 58-7 loss at the hands of the Broncos. While losing is never fun, the Aztecs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona football rankings (they are ranked 164th, while the Broncos are ranked 48th).
Meanwhile, Desert Sunrise couldn't capitalize on their home-field advantage in their season opener. They took a 27-20 hit to the loss column at the hands of Rio Rico last Friday. Despite 60 more yards than the Hawks, the Golden Hawks couldn't convert that extra yardage to scores.
Desert Sunrise might have lost, but man, Aime Lamour was a machine: he rushed for 128 yards and a touchdown while picking up 7.1 yards per carry.
Desert Sunrise's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Paitten King. Another thorn in Rio Rico's side was Jaaziel Dominguez, who made 17 total tackles.
Even though they lost, Desert Sunrise was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 228 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Rio Rico only rushed for 104.
Copper Canyon didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Desert Sunrise when the teams last played back in September of 2023, but they still walked away with a 21-17 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Desert Sunrise's Alexander Jones, who rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries, and also picked up 98 receiving yards and a touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Copper Canyon still be able to contain Jones? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
