By the third week of the season, some trends are beginning to take shape for area teams. Joseph City appears to be just as strong, if not stronger, than last year’s title team. In Snowflake, the Lobos have proven to be a dominant team. Winslow has jumped out to another quick start behind new head Coach BJ Little, and the Roadrunners are really struggling to find their footing at this juncture of the campaign.
Joseph City will be at Ash Fork tonight (Sept. 9) in a match up of two unbeatens. While neither team has really been tested through the first two weeks, the Spartans will meet a juggernaut of a team when the Wildcats come to town. Joseph City has its sights set on another title, and Ash Fork will merely be a speed bump in the road. Next week the Cats will be in a battle against Mogollon, but this week they can cruise to another easy win.
Despite playing against the bigger school in Flagstaff, the Bulldogs and the Eagles are both in Division IV. Flagstaff has opened the season slowly, dropping the first two games. Winslow is 2-0, but hasn’t played a top quality opponent yet. Look for the Bulldogs to come out on top in this one, but they will face a tougher test than they have through the first two weeks.
The Roadrunners have their home opener in Holbrook tonight, and will be looking to get into the win column against Alchesay. Both teams come in having suffered lopsided losses in the first two weeks. They do have a common opponent, with Snowflake defeating both easily. Holbrook hasn’t faced the Falcons since the 2008-09 season. In that last meeting Alchesay came out on top in a shootout, 50-48. The meeting prior to that was another close outcome, with Holbrook on top 21-18. Based on both team’s performances through the first two weeks, this game shapes up to be another close one. Playing at Roadrunner Stadium for the first time this season should be enough to give Holbrook the edge.
This week the Lobos travel to Lakeside to meet Blue Ridge for what may be a match up of two of the top three teams in Division IV. Each team has won easily against overmatched opponents in the first two weeks. Last season the Lobos were no match for the Jackets, but two years ago playing in Lakeside, Snowflake came within four points of upsetting the vaunted Yellowjackets. That 33-29 loss may be enough to give the Lobos some confidence that most teams don’t have going into Blue Ridge. This year the Lobos have a veteran team with several of those players having been a part of that close outcome. This game should easily be the best on the mountain and may be one of the best of the season, despite coming in just the third week of the season. Also there is a decent chance this could be just the first meeting this season, as both teams are expected to go deep into the state playoffs.
