Harris Hicks
ASU Student Journalist

Glendale defeats Coconino, 49-26

November 20, 2021 by Harris Hicks, Arizona State University


Glendale's Keyon Walker huddles with teammates on sideline. (Harris Hicks/AZPreps365)

Harris Hicks is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Glendale High School for AZPreps365.com

GLENDALE - "Games in November are ones they remember." 

This is what Glendale High School's defensive backs coach, Andrew Swink, said to his players right before the game. 
 
For the Cardinals, this was a game to remember. 

Glendale defeated Coconino High School, 49-26, at home on Friday night to advance past the first round of the 4A state playoffs. 

The Cardinals have won ten straight games since their season-opening 27-13 defeat against Prescott. 

Glendale has beaten their opponents by 24.1 points per game in their ten-game winning streak, and Friday night was no different. "We wanted to be dominant," said Glendale coach Rob York. "We ran the ball well, and the defense took things away."

Glendale averaged 8.1 yards per carry as a team before Friday night's game. Against Coconino, Glendale eclipsed that average, rushing for 393 yards on 30 carries, averaging over a first down per carry (13.1). 

The Cardinals' senior sensation, Keyon Walker, led Glendale, amassing 197 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries. "Keyon ran the crap out of the ball," said York. "He's our workhorse." 

Keyon Walker is in a tier of his own on the field, but Keyon Walker is your typical kid off the field.

"Usually, before games, I eat a sandwich with lettuce, ham, no tomatoes," said Walker. "I'm not a tomato guy. When I'm out of football, I'm usually hanging with friends or working at KFC." 

The Cardinals started hot right out of the gates, as Glendale's local KFC cashier ran for 112 yards and a touchdown on his first four carries and broke six tackles in the process. 

"To be honest, I didn't think I would break that many tackles," said Walker. "I wanted to score for my team, and defenders just bounced off me." 

Glendale's Zecheriah Owens spectates his defense on Cardinals sideline. (Harris Hicks/AZPreps365)

Sophomore quarterback Zecheriah Owens scored Glendale's first touchdown. And although Owens isn't old enough to legally drive yet, that didn't stop him from producing. "On that play, they brought the blitz, and they probably thought since I was young I couldn't handle it," Owens said. "But I just stayed calm and did my thing." 

Owens finished with 112 rushing yards on eight carries in the game, seeing the end zone two times. 

"He's an awesome kid," said York. "His story is how he's bounced back from his first game against Prescott. He's shown a lot of resilience." 

Although Owens was hard to stop on the ground, the air attack was lacking for the Cardinals. 

Owens went four for 11 for 69 yards passing, as the Cardinals dropped more passes—five—than they had completions in the game. 

"We need to catch the ball better," said York. "We did a lot of things well, but I thought we needed to clean up our drops."

Defensively, the Cardinals were led by defensive tackle Chris Tovar. What Tovar lacks in size at 5'6" 175 lbs, he makes up for in heart. The senior was able to get to Cococino's quarterback, Enoch Watson, for his fifth sack of the year, forcing a fumble in the process. 

"I pushed the offensive linemen down, so I knew I had a shot at the quarterback," said Tovar. "I went over there, cut my man off, and once I got to him, I punched the ball out, and my main man recovered it." 

The man that recovered the fumble was defensive tackle James Ortiz, and like Tovar, Ortiz was all over the place on defense, recording two tackles for loss and four tackles on the night.  

"I saw the ball, and my mentality was to kill, that's what I do, so I didn't let anyone else get that ball," said Ortiz. 

Like Glendale, Coconino got a lot on the ground. 

Coconino's junior running back, Cooper French, had 185 of the team's 235 rushing yards on 21 carries, the Panthers' junior running back. 

Panther quarterback Enoch Watson was efficient through the air, passing for 111 yards on 15 pass attempts and a touchdown. 

"We were able to keep their offense in check, and our run game was the key," said York. 

Glendale advances to 10-1 on the season and will play 12th-seeded Canyon Del Oro next Friday at 7 P.M in the second round of the 4A playoffs at home.