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SIERRA VISTA — It’s homecoming week for the Buena High School football team.
For most coaches, it’s a a distraction to be feared.
Buena first-year coach Kent Holland goes along with most of his colleagues.
“It’s a good tradition and football plays the biggest role in homecoming,” Holland said. “But yes, I don’t like it from a coaching standpoint because it is very distractive to the team. The players need to be concentrating on the game, not all the activities that surround them.”
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The Colts are coming off a hard-earned 19-7 Southern Region opener against Rincon last week in a game dominated by the defensive units of both teams.
Tonight, Buena hosts Ironwood Ridge in the second meeting between the two teams on the gridiron.
The Nighthawks come to Buena with a 3-1 record and ranked No. 5 in the Class 5A-II power points. Their latest win was a 45-0 victory over Casa Grande in there region opener last week.
The Nighthawks have also defeated Goldwater, 27-0 and Willow Canyon, 49-3, while losing to Pinnacle, 10-6.
Three Nighthawk players each scored two touchdowns against Casa Grande last week, quarterback Tyler D’Amore, wide receiver Adrian Brahler and running back Jeffrey Mitchell, showing that Ironwood Ridge has the capability to score both through the air and on the ground.
“They do run the ball a lot,” Holland said. “I expect them to do the same against us.”
Mitchell carried the ball five times for 102 yards in leading the Nighthawks to 297 yards rushing, while quarterback D’Amore was 5-for-7 passing for 96 yards. His top receiver was Scott Campbell who had four receptions for 76 yards.
The Nighthawks also have a formidable defense built around four seniors, Jake Fisher, Ray Cottman, Zack Booker and Josh Morelock.
Casa Grande was held to zero yards rushing and only 66 passing in last week’s loss to the Nighthawks. As for Buena, defense played a big role in the Colts’ first win of the season with two pass interceptions and three fumble recoveries as well as recording six sacks.
DeAndre Little was in on nine tackles while Dexter Ekwelunde had four tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
Little, along with Derek Lane, Gabe Samuels and Daniel Foster are the Colts leading defensive players.
The Colt offense is still sputtering as two of the three Colt touchdowns in the Rincon game came off defensive plays and have yet to have a 100-yard rushing game in four attempts.
Against Rincon, Buena had 91 rushing yards, led by running back Trey Brown with 75 yards on 17 carries.
Quarterbacks Joe Wallace and Jeremy Tuttle are hitting on 41 and 48 percent of their passing, while Deche Milburn is Buena’s leading receiver with 11 catches for 243 yards and three touchdowns.
The Colts are averaging 198.5 yards per game while their opponents are averaging 366 yards per game.
Holland said he will start sophomore Jeremy Tuttle at quarterback for tonight’s game and will have little change in his lineup of last week.
In other Southern Region games tonight, Rincon (2-2) travels to Casa Grande (2-2), Salpointe Catholic (4-0) hosts Mountain View (1-3) and Sunnyside (2-2) is at Tucson High (2-2).
Buena Colts are 1 wrote on Oct 3, 2008 11:18 AM: