When Holbrook travels to Winslow on Friday night it will be a meeting between two teams coming off disappointing losses. The Roadrunners were flattened by Payson 56-0 last week, while the Bulldogs had a three game winning streak snapped on the road at Show Low with a 35-18 setback.
Both teams now enter week two of the East Region contests with 0-1 records. Both teams head into this week on the outside looking in at the state playoffs. With just four weeks left in the regular season the Bulldogs are ranked 20th but still have an outside chance. Holbrook is ranked 34th and they are just playing out the schedule. That is about where the similarities between the two schools ends.
Despite last week’s loss the Bulldogs come in with a winning record at 4-3. After opening their season with a win the Roadrunners enter this contest on a four game skid. Winslow has had the upper hand for many years in this battle of I-40. In the past six meetings between the two schools the Bulldogs have averaged 43 points per game while routing the Birds on most of those occasions. One positive for the Roadrunners is that the last time they played in Winslow two years ago they played close in a 26-40 loss. Holbrook has only scored a total of 24 points this season, and unless they find a more consistent offensive attack they will be in for another long night on the turf in Winslow.
Snowflake is coming off an emotional 28-21 hard fought win over Blue Ridge last week in a game that really wasn’t decided until the final moments. The Lobos are now 5-1, and ranked third in the most recent 3A rankings. Payson rolled over Holbrook last week ruining the Roadrunner homecoming. Although it is just one game into the East Region competition, both teams are tied at the top of the region standings with 1-0 records. These two teams have met three times in the past two seasons. Snowflake won both regular season meetings but two years ago the Longhorns stunned Snowflake 7-6 in the state playoffs.
Payson enters the game ranked 17th, just outside the desired top 16th position to make the post season. They won’t get a win over the Lobos on Friday night, but playing a highly ranked team might move them closer to the top 16 in the rankings. Payson can score points, but Snowflake has more balance on offense and is simply the better team.
Joseph City has moved their season mark to 4-2, and unless they get caught looking ahead to next week’s showdown with Mogollon, they should have little problems handling Fredonia on Friday. The Lynx enter the game with a 1-3 mark and haven’t been impressive at all this season. Joseph City appears to have found their stride behind outstanding performances from Cameron Baldwin and Latrell Kinlicheenie among others. If the Wildcats can stay focused they will have an enjoyable night with what should be a big win over Fredonia. In their past three meetings, Joseph City has outscored the Lynx by an average of 42 to 6. That could be about what the score ends up on Friday night.
