Rams hope to cage Bears in visit to Coolidge

The Maricopa High football team took the ‘mini bus’ to victory last Friday night in a 45-40 win over Bourgade Catholic.

When they travel to Coolidge on Friday evening, the Rams will once again look to use the services of running back Matt ‘mini bus’ Fierros. The senior romped through the Bourgade Catholic defense last weekend to the tune of 279 yards rushing and five touchdowns.

For his most recent efforts, Fierros was named this week’s Arizona Cardinals and Wells Fargo “High School Player-of-the-Week.”

It is still to be determined how Fierros and Maricopa High (2-1) will fare against Coolidge on Friday, but the Bears enter the contest with a record of 0-2.

Coolidge has fallen to date to Round Valley 21-14 and Blue Ridge 43-14. Senior running back Brad Jackson scored both touchdowns in the team’s loss to Blue Ridge.

“Coolidge is a great football team with awesome tradition,” Maricopa High head coach Tyler Brandt noted. “They play hard every Friday night, and they step on the field expecting to win. They are a very disciplined football team that executes well. Our goal is to win as well. Friday night will be 48 minutes of intense football.”

Last weekend’s win over Bourgade Catholic was big, but Brandt said the team never lost confidence following its first loss the week before at Wickenburg.

“We saw that we were competitive with one of the best teams in 3A (Wickenburg), and it was a motivating factor,” Brandt said. “Offensively we saw the adjustments we made from the Wickenburg game working which was very positive. Defensively we saw areas that need improvement and adjustments. It is really hard to be excited about winning a game (Bourgade Catholic) when you execute so poorly on one side of the ball. I do think that this win has refocused our team on improving in many areas.”

In light of the play of Fierros this season, Brandt expects yet another opponent to key in on the talented running back.

“I am certain that most teams will focus on Matt Fierros; he is a real threat every time he touches the ball,” Brandt added.

Photo by Mandy Hank