The penultimate week of the regular season has arrived for three of the four area football teams. Joseph City’s season came to a close last week as the Wildcats finished just outside the top 12 in the Division VI rankings, leaving them looking forward to the basketball and wrestling seasons which get underway soon.
The best game of the night will be in Show Low, where the 4-4 Cougars play host to 7-1 Snowflake. Show Low heads into this contest ranked 11th in Division IV, while the Lobos enter in the fourth overall position. When this season began it was Show Low, not Snowflake, that was considered to be the odds on favorite for a title game appearance. Now, eight weeks later it appears Snowflake is the better team. Snowflake’s only loss on the year came against top ranked Seton Catholic in week three. The Lobos have since clipped off five consecutive wins averaging nearly 60 points per game over the last three, all of which came against quality opponents. Of Show Low’s four losses, three came in the first three weeks of the season. Since then the Cougars’ only loss was an overtime decision to rival Blue Ridge. Snowflake defeated that same Yellowjacket team by 40 points.
While the Cougars are playing better in the second half of their schedule, Snowflake has been playing well throughout the season. The Lobos are solid on both sides of the ball, and should have enough to avenge losses to Show Low in the past two seasons. There is a slight chance these two teams could see each other again in the playoffs, so there may be an act two to this play.
Winslow comes into tonight’s (Oct. 24) game ranked ninth in Division IV. The Bulldogs play at Chinle, which is simply looking to get football over with and head to the gym. The Wildcats are ranked 25th, well outside state playoff possibilities, while the Bulldogs are certainly headed for the state playoffs. With their final game against Page the Bulldogs could head into the bracket ranked even higher than ninth. They will need a good seed to avoid one of the powerhouses in the first round. If they can stay in the top eight they would host a first round playoff game, as well, which should be more than enough motivation for Winslow to close out the season with two wins. The Bulldogs will get the first of those two tonight by cruising past the Wildcats. Winslow won this game 50-0 last year, and tonight may see a similar result.
Holbrook has a tough challenge tonight. The Roadrunners are on a two-game skid, and tonight’s trip to the dome in Eagar will be a difficult spot to change that trend. The Roadrunners, 3-5 and ranked 28th in power points, have just two games left as they will not make the state playoffs. Round Valley, unbeaten in eight games, enters the contest ranked fourth and would like nothing more than to possibly climb into either the second or third seed in order to avoid the top ranked team in a potential semifinal game. This year’s Elk squad is big, physical and may be ruthless tonight. The Elks are always tough to play in the dome, and this year they will simply be too much for Holbrook to handle. The Roadrunners scored two touchdowns last year against Round Valley, if they can get just one tonight it might be considered a moral victory. The Roadrunners will have a chance to end their season on a high note when they host Miami next week in what will be the final game for both teams.
