The final week of the regular football season has arrived.
The Holbrook Roadrunners will host the Payson Longhorns for Senior Night on Friday, Oct. 28. It’s been quite a while since these two teams have met on the football field. In fact, the last time Holbrook faced Payson, this year’s seniors were in the fourth grade. Seniors Cade Maestas, Miah Perry, Danny Gonzales, Shane McGraw, Adriano Dean, Oscar Hernandez, Robert Romo, James Spencer, Jordan Yellowhorse and Zaach McLaws will be honored at Roadrunner Stadium on Friday.
As for the game, Payson has a 4-5 record but has climbed its way into a playoff position and would secure the trip to the post-season with a win over Holbrook. The Longhorns are ranked 14th and have a legitimate chance to move a little higher in the rankings. They have been playing well of late, losing to top ranked Snowflake two weeks ago by just five points. Holbrook comes into this game with a disappointing 2-6 season record and is just looking to close out the season. Payson is a big physical team and will have too much for Holbrook to handle.
The Roadrunners’ return to the 3A East did not go well this year, and a loss to Payson would leave them at 0-5 in the region.
Can Snowflake bounce back from last week’s last minute loss to Show Low? That loss knocked the Lobos from the top spot and they were replaced by Show Low, which leap frogged five teams in the rankings and dropped Snowflake to No. 2. This week Snowflake travels to Lakeside to meet Blue Ridge in what used to be a huge game. This year the Yellowjackets struggled to just two wins and the Lobos are headed for a deep post-season run, so this game will be little more than a speed bump for the visitors. The Lobos have easily won the past two meetings and this game will make it three in a row.
Winslow remained ranked 13th in the standings and is in a precarious position. The Bulldogs will play at No. 1 Show Low Friday night and will have their hands full. Even if the Cougars have an expected let down after last week’s big win over Snowflake, they will still have too much for the Bulldogs. Winslow can only hope it doesn’t drop out of the top 16 with a loss. If the Bulldogs make it to the post-season, their first round game next week will be against one of the top two or three teams in the state.
Joseph City came up with a big opening round win over Mogollon last Saturday and will now travel to Superior to face the second seeded Panthers on Saturday, Oct. 29. These two teams split their last two meetings with Superior winning 62-42 in 2014 and Joseph City victorious 58-22 the year before that. Superior had a first round bye and playing at home will give the Panthers an advantage. The Wildcats and Panthers did not have a common opponent this year, so this game is tough to call. If Joseph City can get and stay healthy, it has offensive weapons that can hang with any team. This would be a huge win for Wildcat fans. It will be a tough game, but don’t be surprised if the Cats pull the upset. If they win, they would face either No. 6 Valley Union or No. 3 Williams next weekend. Joseph City’s two losses this year came to those teams.
