GAME PREVIEW CAPSULE
River Valley, Ariz. (0-0) at Dixie (1-0)
DUST DEVILS
Classification: AZ 3A, West Region
Coach: Barry Bower (fifth year, 32-14 overall)
Offense: Wishbone
Last year: 8-3
Players to watch: The River Valley squad is driving a long way (about six hours) to get their hats handed to them. Last season against Dixie, they totaled just 157 yards and avoided a shutout with a TD run with 49 seconds left in the 59-7 loss.
PPG (last year): 27.4
PAPG (last year): 14.6
Trend: After two big losses to open last season, River Valley won eight straight and qualified for the AIA playoffs, where they were eliminated 17-13 by Empire out of Tucson.
FLYERS
Classification: 3A, Region 9
Coach: Blaine Monkres (23rd year, 157-86 overall)
Offense: Spread
Last week: Beat Springville 28-13
Players to watch: QB Blake Barney had 379 yards of total offense last week against the Red Devils. He’s got to stay healthy. Kyle Hansen did not play against Springville, so it’s still a question mark about his knee surgery recovery.
PPG: 28.0
PAPG: 13.0
Trend: Not surprisingly, Dixie had a ton of yards last week, but that did not translate into a ton of points. Last season the Flyers scored 59 on River Valley and things shouldn’t be much different this time around.
GAME OUTLOOK
Can’t imagine these two teams will ever play again if River Valley doesn’t put up more of a fight this time around. The Dust Devils are a decent team in AIA (Arizona) 3A, but have no chance here. Barney may be done by halftime.
STGnews PREDICTION
Andy Griffin — Dixie
Jeff Ames — Dixie