No. 6 Buckeye Verrado (9-2) at No. 3 Buena (9-2)
Date: Friday
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Verrado coach: Jeremy Hathcock (9-2, first year at Verrado; 171-84, 23rd year as a head coach at Show Low, Gilbert Desert Ridge, Blue Ridge and now Verrado).
Buena coach: Joe Thomas (47-49, 10th year at Buena; 58-68, 13th year overall). Coached the Colts to their first playoff victory since 1983 (the year he was born) last week when they defeated No. 14 Casa Grande 65-28 at Sierra Vista. Buena’s nine wins are its most since the Colts finished 10-1 in 1977 under Truman Williamson.
When Verrado has the ball:
Run percentage: 53.6 percent (263 rushes)
Pass percentage: 46.4 percent (228 passes)
Hathcock has utilized two quarterbacks although senior Chase Gieszler has the most attempts — 137 — with a phenomenal 101 completions (73.7 percent completion rate). He has passed for 1,938 yards with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. … Malachi Wilt is the other quarterback, who has completed 44 of 89 pass attempts for 697 yards with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. … Senior RB Jack Isidore leads the Vipers with 1,497 yards rushing with 15 touchdowns. He is on a stretch of eight straight games with at least 100 yards rushing. … Verrado has four senior receivers with at least 488 yards — Jordan Hiller (657), Deriece Brown (577), Caden Gingg (516) and Roman Alicea (488). … Buena’s top two tacklers are junior linebackers — Cooper Kraus (84 tackles) and Latavis “T.J.” Walker (74). Senior DE Shawn Bookman leads the Colts with seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss among his 62 tackles. … Walker has four of Buena’s 16 interceptions this season. Seniors Aliaz Dyson, a cornerback, and Charlie Price, a linebacker, each have three picks.
When Buena has the ball:
Run percentage: 67.4 percent (337 rushes)
Pass percentage: 32.6 percent (163 passes)
Senior RB Andres Bonilla is on a tear and a big reason why Thomas relies on the run. Bonilla has rushed for 1,420 yards on 131 carries with 16 touchdowns. In Buena’s present three-game winning streak, Bonilla has gained 565 yards on the ground on 41 carries — an average of 13.8 yards per carry. He holds Buena’s program record with 4,286 rushing yards. … RB Michael Lujan has provided Buena a potent one-two punch with Bonilla. Lujan has 890 yards rushing on 122 carries with 14 touchdowns — numbers that usually lead a program. … QB Nash Moore’s play has allowed Thomas to open the offense. Moore has completed 94 of 162 pass attempts for 1,826 yards. He has 31 touchdowns and only three interceptions. … Junior WR Jayden Thomas, son of the head coach, leads the Colts with 36 receptions for 899 yards. Walker is a two-way standout with 493 yards receiving on 24 catches with eight touchdowns. … Verrado junior LB Zach Kovach leads the Vipers with 99 tackles (3.5 tackles for loss). … NT Tyson Fuller leads the Vipers with 3.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss in addition to 24 quarterback-hurries. … Verrado has compiled 11 interceptions but it has recovered 21 fumbles. Three players each have two interceptions — DB Blake Bliss, Gingg (a safety) and Brown (a defensive back).
Series record
First meeting between the schools.
FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
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 five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District
Recommended for you
