With Holbrook, Winslow and Joseph City having put a final wrap on their football seasons, Snowflake remains as the only local team in action this week. The Lobos enter the 3A State Tournament as the 10th overall seed and will have quite a road trip on Saturday, Nov. 4, when they travel to face No. 7 Yuma Catholic.
The Shamrocks play in the 3A Metro Region, where they posted a regular season record of 8-2. Those two losses were to 4A Seton Catholic by just one point at 31-30 and to region foe Casteel by a final of 17-10. They enter the playoffs on the heels of a four-game winning streak, having outscored those four opponents a combined 203 to 23 points. However, along with Casteel, the only other state tournament team on their schedule was Northwest Christian, whom they defeated by three touchdowns.
Snowflake (7-3) joins ninth seeded Show Low and 11th ranked Blue Ridge as the only East Region teams in the playoffs. None of the East teams will be hosting first round games and, barring any opening round upsets, none will be at home in the second round. If the Lobos advance, they would face the winner between No. 3 Casteel and No. 14 Empire.
Statistically, Yuma Catholic has the better numbers, especially in the passing game, where the Shamrocks have averaged 224 yards per game compared to the Lobos’ 109. On the ground they are just seven yards apart. Based on those numbers, if the Lobos can find a way to slow the Shamrock passing attack, they have a good chance to advance. If not, they may well see their season come to a close.
The game will be played at 6 o’clock on Saturday evening.
