‘As Homecoming restlessness continues to flourish, Verrado Football looks to bounce back against the Goldwater Bulldogs despite a suspenseful loss to Mountain View just last Friday.
Verrado also looks to gain back traction with hopes of advancing their record to an even 2-2 while Goldwater, who’s currently riding a 2-game win streak with back-to-back wins against both North Canyon and Apache Junction, intends to spoil the night with a win on Verrado’s home turf.
With all the amplified pressure that comes with Homecoming weekend, questions can arise and teams can begin to lose their nerve when referring to these highly anticipated games.
So that begs the question: Will the lights be too bright for Verrado Football on Homecoming weekend?
One of the more prominent plays early in the game came courtesy of Junior Quarterback Chase Gieszler, who electrified the home crowd with an outstanding 50-yard rushing touchdown to give Verrado the early momentum.
Prior to the play, Goldwater displayed a 3-4 style defense, an alignment that consists of 3 D-Linemen and 4 Linebackers with the common narrative of being highly effective against the pass attack but poor in pressuring the Quarterback.
However, Goldwater’s alignment cloaked their real intentions as they brought a blitz with the additional 3 Linebackers in hopes of creating a surprise pressure on Verrado’s offensive line.
This disguise brought by the Bulldog defense certainly didn’t faze Giezler however, as he was able to quickly evade not 1 but 2 pass rushers in his way.
With help from a couple of key down-field blocks from the Verrado offense, Gieszler soon got the edge and was off and running for an electrifying 50-yard rushing touchdown, giving Verrado the advantage heading into the later quarters.
Alongside his unique and crafty running ability, Gieszler also made an impact through the passing attack, as he later found Junior Wide Receiver Roman Alicea for a 72-yard passing touchdown.
During the play, Alicea’s route took him straight through Goldwater’s zone-style defense where wasn’t picked up by any of the secondary defenders.
Because of this, Alicea ran right through the defensive secondary and found himself wide open behind the entire defense, where Gieszler would complete the pass for the touchdown.
Verrado’s game-sealing play actually came on the defensive side of the football, where Sophomore SS Blake Bliss sacked and stripped the football from the Quarterback causing a fumble.
Standout Senior DE Ryan Willey picked up the ball and ran it back for a touchdown, ultimately ending all hope the Goldwater Bulldogs still had left.
Statistically, Verrado ended up having 302 passing yards and 144 rushing yards with a combined total of 446 yards overall.
The game eventually ended with a score of 49-9 in favor of Verrado, a dominant performance to say the least.
