GAME PREVIEW CAPSULE
Snow Canyon (1-0, 0-0) at Shadow Ridge, Nev. (0-0, 0-0)
Previous Meeting – Snow Canyon 43, Shadow Ridge 16 (Aug. 24, 2012 at Snow Canyon)
WARRIORS
Classification: 3AA, South Region
Coach: Marcus Matua (1st year, 1-0 overall)
Offense: Single Wing/Spread
Last game: Beat San Juan 21-0
Players to watch: Snow Canyon had more than 300 yards rushing, with Zach Kennedy and Connor Parry both topping the 100-yard mark. All-region basketball center Nate Gottfredson is playing tight end for the Warriors and caught his first pass last week for Snow Canyon.
PPG: 21.0
PAPG: 0.0
Trend: It was just one game and it was a smaller school, but the Warriors were dominant on both sides of the ball against San Juan last week. Offensive coordinator Burke Rigby’s Spread-wing offense was dominant against a pretty good San Juan defense and the Snow Canyon D allowed just over 100 yards of offense. That’s a pretty good debut for a new coaching staff.
MUSTANGS
Classification: Nevada 1-A, Sunset Northwest Region
Coach: Frank Tousa (3rd year, 4-15 overall)
Offense: Spread
Last game: Lost to Bishop Gorman 78-13 in last year’s playoffs
Players to watch: Jay Henderson is a do-everything athlete, returning kicks, catching passes and running out of the slot and wildcat and playing linebacker on defense. The Mustangs also have two studs at running back in Melvin Johnson and Cody Alfar. But who will play quarterback?
PPG: 28.7 (last season)
PAPG: 41.5 (last season)
Trend: Shadow Ridge won four games last year, a huge step up from their winless campaign in 2011. However, the Mustangs losses were huge and they couldn’t stop anybody. Plus, they lost their QB, top receiver and top two linemen from last year.
GAME OUTLOOK
There should be plenty of running room for Parry and Kennedy as Shadow Ridge is just bad on defense. The Warriors may have to call off the dogs early, though Shadow Ridge does have good athletes and can score. But the Warriors should have at least double last week’s 21 points. On a side note, Shadow Ridge coach Frank Tousa is the son of Snow Canyon assistant head coach Jerry Tousa.
STGnews (record) PREDICTION
Andy Griffin (6-1) — Snow Canyon
Darren Cole (5-2) — Snow Canyon
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Twitter: @oldschoolag
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