Look For Fireworks Between Desert Ridge And Hamilton
September 8, 2017 by Manning Winn, Arizona State University
Hamilton High School and Desert Ridge High School prepare to face off tonight in what could very well be an offensive shoot out.
Both the Jaguars and Huskies are fresh off of dominant offensive performances, putting up 49 and 52 points last week, so both defenses should have their hands more than full.
Desert Ridge defensive coordinator Travis Jackson has the task of stopping an offense that has proven it can get a 215 yard, four touchdown performance from RB Jawhar Jordan Jr. one week to getting a 348 yard, three touchdown performance another week from QB Tyler Shough.
“You’ve got to stop the run first,” Jackson said, “Its just about being balanced in how you stop the run and not overcommitting because then the quarterback will eat you up.”
As a result of some injuries, the Jaguars will field a young defense starting 10 sophomores. However, this defense isn’t without some star power. CB Donjae Logan, a Stanford commit, has been watching film and preparing for his match up with the Huskies towering receivers.
“I saw them utilizing their height,” Logan said, “I’m focused on my backpedal stance because they like to wiggle their routes, they like to be sneaky to try to get me off.”
The Hamilton defense is not without worries of their own.
When these teams dueled last season, Desert Ridge came out with the 36-20 win on the back of then-sophomore RB Tyrese Allen, who put up 310 yards and three touchdowns on the Huskie defense, and Allen is prepared to go blow for blow with this years revamped Huskie offense again.
“I know we can keep up with them if the defense can just keep Jawhar inside,” Allen said, “I’m not worried about the pass game.”
With both offenses more than capable of running up the score, it could come down to whether the Jaguars young defense can produce just enough stops.
“If we can keep our head up and not just hang our head when they score, because we’re young, we feel like they’re gonna make mistakes,” Jaguars head coach Jeremy Hathcock said, “but if we hang our head, they’re gonna run all over us.”
