Football preview: ‘Win or stay home’ time for Rams

After losing their final section game last week, the Maricopa High School Rams football team is in a must-win situation in their playoff hopes against the Bradshaw Mountain High School (Prescott Valley) Bears Friday night.

The Rams [7-2 (4-2)] are hoping to clinch a spot in the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division III State Football Playoffs for the first time since 2012. The Rams, who previously ranked as high as third in the AIA Power Rankings during their 6-0 start to the season, dropped to number 13 in this week’s rankings after their loss to Vista Grande High School last Friday.

The Bears, who also lost Friday, are currently ranked 16th in the power rankings. With teams such as Vista Grande, Tempe High School and Nogales High School jockeying for a playoff spot as well, a win is crucial for both teams in Friday night’s matchup.

“This is definitely win or stay home game,” MHS football head coach Chris McDonald said. “They’re really a spitting image of what we do. There’s some things they do that we think we can attack, but I’m going to assume they’ll bring the house like every team has done the last three or four weeks and we’ll have to adjust to that.”

For Maricopa, the key to the game will be getting their offense back on track. Over the last three weeks (which as seen the Rams lose two out of three games), Maricopa’s high-powered offense has struggled to gain any momentum.

However, Bradshaw Mountain has shown defensive vulnerabilities against both passing and rushing attacks throughout the season. The Rams will look to get their balanced offense back in sync to take advantage of a defense that allows over 22 points a game on average.

In order to exploit the holes in the Bears’ defense, senior quarterback Aaron Owens will need to rediscover the magic he had to start the season. Since exploding for 537 passing yards in the team’s first game, Owens has averaged about 153 yards per game.

Senior all-purpose player Isaiah Pedro is expected to have an impact on offense as well, but senior wide receiver and team captain Johnny Johnson Jr. may still be battling injuries. Without any guarantee of Johnson being back to 100 percent healthy, Owens finding the poise he had earlier in the year is crucial to the Rams making a playoff push.

“Today we tried using flip bands and numbers (to get the offense back on track), but it just didn’t work out the way we wanted,” McDonald said. “I think there’s a lot of different things going on right now with our team. We’re doing our best to try to get it fixed.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Maricopa will need to stop Bradshaw Mountain’s junior quarterback Gunner Bundrick. The dual-threat quarterback currently leads the Bears with 1,224 passing yards and 517 rushing yards. Bundrick is the focal point of Bradshaw Mountain’s offense and has accounted for 18 of the team’s 26 total touchdowns this season.

When referencing how the Rams would contain Bundrick, McDonald said, “We’re going to come after him and we’re going to let the chips fall where they may fall.”

Friday’s regular season finale is also Senior Night, with the 12 seniors being  honored before the game.

Kick off will take place at 7 p.m. at Rams Field on the northwest corner of the Maricopa High School campus.