With the state playoffs looming less than a month away Holbrook, Joseph City, and Winslow are still trying to keep playoff hopes alive, while Snowflake is firmly entrenched as one of the top tier teams in its division. Tonight’s (Oct. 10) football action should see all four teams coming away with wins, although they won’t all have an easy time of it.
Joseph City heads into tonight’s game ranked 18th in Division VI and will travel to Ash Fork looking for its third win of the season. The Spartans are ranked three spots higher than the visiting Wildcats, but that should change after tonight. Joseph City easily won this matchup the past two seasons and based on this year’s common opponent Fredonia, the Wildcats should be in for another big win. Joseph City defeated Fredonia by a large margin last week while Ash Fork squeaked by Fredonia by six in week one. Look for the Cats to move their season mark to 3-4 and leap frog Ash Fork in the standings.
Snowflake, 5-1 and ranked fifth overall in Division IV, makes the trip to Fountain Hills for a matchup with the 14th ranked Falcons. The Lobos dominated this game in Snowflake last year and with a similar outcome tonight, they will add to their three-game winning streak. As long as the Lobos don’t get caught looking two weeks ahead to their huge match up with Show Low or looking back to their win over Blue Ridge last week, they should return home with another big win.
Ranked 13th in Division IV, the Bulldogs play host to 16th ranked Monument Valley. Winslow snapped a three-game skid with last week’s 40-6 win over Window Rock and tonight the Bulldogs should make it two wins in a row. The Mustangs are 3-3 on the year, but have dropped three straight. Winslow has controlled this contest the past two years. You can look for the Bulldogs to hand the Mustangs their fourth straight setback.
Holbrook sits 23rd in the Division V rankings and needs to move into the top 16 to make the playoffs. A win over 42nd ranked Alchesay tonight will help the Roadrunners’ cause. With St. Johns and Round Valley on the docket for the next two weeks, they really need this win. Holbrook has owned the Falcons in the past two meetings, winning by a combined 113-6 point total. The Roadrunners have won two straight and the Falcons have dropped three in a row, including a 40-34 loss to Miami last week. Holbrook’s defense can’t afford to give up 34 points if they want to get a win. The Roadrunners will be missing some key players tonight and they struggled against Valley last week. If the state playoffs are the goal for Holbrook, tonight’s game is a must win. The Roadrunners should win this game, but don’t expect the margin to be anywhere near the previous two years’ final scores.
