3A CONFERENCE

 

SEMIFINALS: Saturday, Nov. 18

No. 1 Pusch Ridge (12-0) vs. No. 4 Franklin (11-1), 6:30 p.m.

(Salpointe Catholic)

 

This will be the first-ever meeting between the Lions and the Chargers but that’s understandable, considering Ben Franklin competed as an independent squad in 2014 (4-7) before entering the AIA ranks in 2015 (5-5). Head coach Dave Jefferies moved over from Thatcher in that first full year and he quickly turned the program into a winning one, posting a 7-3 mark in 2016.

The Chargers finished the 2016 season ranked No. 16 but were bumped out of playoff contention by a lower-seeded Page squad due to the section championship by the Sand Devils. Still, the jump from ranked 22nd in 2015 to a semifinalist two years later in remarkable.

Chase Adams has 730 yards passing for the Chargers with nine TDs, but this is a ground-focused attack with Zach Jefferies rushing for 1,643 yards and 21 TDs and Chandler Miles adding 1,502 and another 21 TDs. Seth Hamblin has 290 yards receiving and Miles has 257.

Cade McAfee has 94 tackles to lead the Chargers and Powell Skiba has 76, including 13 sacks. Hamblin has four interceptions.

This is the second undefeated regular season for the Lions and the second trip to the semifinal round since winning it all in 2015. That 2015 team started the year out with a loss and then went on to win 13 in a row under Troy Cropp.  Only a handful of players remain from that team including QB/DB Christian Fetsis.

Now, under the guidance of Jerry Harris, there is an all-hands-on deck approach due to lower enrollment numbers and the Lions probably wouldn’t want it any other way. While other teams would shudder at the notion of having the starting QB play defense, the Lions thrive on it under their family atmosphere. The players on offense are responsible for stopping the opposing offense. Complete buy-in.

Fetsis has 1,151 yards passing with 15 TDs and he has also rushed for 997 yards with 16 TDs. Matthew McLeod has 609 yards rushing with 10 TDs, Ryan Garcia has 582 yards rushing with 11 TDs, Dakota Haynes has 547 yards rushing with seven TDs and Mitch Maas has 430 yards rushing with 7 TDs.

Turner Harris has 286 yards receiving, Haynes has 261 and McLeod has 230. Maas leads the team with 97 tackles, Blake Reilly has 81, Harris has 67, Max Atkinson has 61, Casey Way has 60 and Haynes has 58. Jonathan Stanton has six sacks and McLeod has four interceptions.