No. 9 Walden Grove (7-3) at No. 8 Phoenix Northwest Christian (7-3)
Date: Friday
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Walden Grove coach: Corey Noble (54-26, eighth year at Walden Grove and overall)
Northwest Christian coach: Dave Inness (142-41, 15th year at Northwest Christian and oveall)
WALDEN GROVE
Leading passer: QB Kaleb Layton, Jr., 110-186, 1,737 yards, 17 TDs, 8 INTs
Leading rusher: RB Robert Cash III, Sr., 174-860, 10 TDs
Leading receiver: WR Jayvon Coleman, Sr., 30-526, 7 TDs
Leading tackler: LB Carlos Montoya Jr., Sr., 101
Leader in sacks: DE Steven Michael-Valdez, Jr., 7.5
Leader in interceptions: S Jaxsen Philistine, Sr., 6
NORTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN
Leading passer: QB Laki Wallwork, 177-256, 2,499 yards, 19 TDs, 3 INTs
Leading rusher: RB Nathan Johannes, 157-911, 5 TDs
Leading receiver: WR Devon Helmer, Sr., 50-750, 4 TDs
Leading tackler: No stats posted on MaxPreps
Leader in sacks: No stats posted on MaxPreps
Leader in interceptions: Full stats not listed on MaxPreps
NOTES
Walden Grove is looking for its first playoff win. Since the program started in 2012, it is 0-4 in the playoffs with an average margin of defeat being 25.8 points. … Northwest Christian and Walden Grove will meet for the fourth time in two seasons with the Crusaders winning all three of the previous meetings, including last year’s first-round game at Northwest Christian. The Red Wolves lost a regular-season game there last year and also fell short 21-16 in the season opener this year at Walden Grove. … The Wallwork-to-Helmer connection helped Northwest Christian win this year’s game. Helmer had seven receptions for 100 yards. … Montoya has 35 tackles for loss among his 101 tackles this season.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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