Rams’ football faces another tough test in Arcadia

When Maricopa High School’s 2011 football season began, the coaches knew the schedule would present quite a challenge. With Friday night’s opponent being Phoenix Arcadia, things don’t become any easier.

The Titans will arrive at the Maricopa stadium for the 7 p.m. game with a 4-1 record, their only loss being to defending state 4A2 champions Phoenix Thunderbird. The combined record for Maricopa’s first six opponents is 19-9.

“I’m really impressed with their defense, really really impressed,” MHS head coach Cory Nenaber said.

***ADVERTISEMENT***Asked to rank the Titans in the context of the teams the Rams have played this year he offers, “I think they’re very close to as good as Williams Field.”  The Black Hawks defeated Maricopa 42-0 on opening night.

“They blitz a lot,” Nenaber notes. “We’re going to try to do some things to try to alleviate that pressure a bit, try to slow them down a bit. The fact of the matter is a team that blitzes like that, they’re going to stop, they’re going to stop you, they’re going to stop you and then all of a sudden you’re going to pop one because they don’t guess right or whatever it is. You get by that first level and you could have some big plays. But we’ve got to be patient and stay the course.”

Having to handle that blitz will be freshman quarterback Keondre Churchwell, who had steadily improved during his first two starts. It’s a tough assignment for a young player, but Nenaber said, “we’ve got four quarterbacks on the roster and they’re all freshmen or sophomores.”

Offensively, the Titans are led by running back Sosaia Maafu who gained 113 yards a year ago when the underdog Rams battled Arcadia until the last six minutes before falling, 28-21.

For the Rams, Nenaber said, “You have to have a game plan based on what the opponent does well. We’re going to try to get the ball out on the edges as quick as possible. I don’t think we’re going to be able to run the ball straight at them, which is what I thought we could do against Seton Catholic, and we did, early on.” The Rams’ Randel Barber gained 184 yards in the first half alone in that game.

“We’ve got to throw the ball a little bit early,” Nenaber said. “Defensively they run a really basic wing-T that they’ve run for a long time and they run it really well. There aren’t going to be any surprises. They’re going to try to run and punch us right in the mouth.”

On defense for the Rams, the coach said, “We’re goin g to have to stop Maafu. He’s their football team, he finds a way to score. He’s a big kid that runs really hard.”