The Titans began their season going 5-0 in the first five weeks of play but recently had to overcome some challenges after losing their last three games. However, Arcadia is coming off a bye week and head coach Kerry Taylor feels confident that his football squad is exactly where they need to be both physically and mentally to be prepared for Friday night.

“This bye week really helped us prepare for this week," Taylor said. “I think the kids really understood what it takes to prepare for a game mentally and not just the physical aspect such as understanding who your opponent is and what your opponent likes to do. So, this week I think we’re pretty locked in.”

Taylor also talked about how although these last three weeks have been tough, he thinks that they’ve learned a lot of lessons along the way and that the bye week has given his team the opportunity to focus on all the little details that make a team successful.

“It takes a couple of losses to learn that all the little details are important, but I think these kids understand the importance of all the little details that I’ve been trying to preach all season,” Taylor said. “Sometimes it the little things that get overlooked, especially by younger kids when they’re winning. But I think we’re turning a corner and learning what it takes to prepare for a team and to do their job every single play.”

Although Arcadia has the upper hand with a week off and home-field advantage, they will need to come into the game prepared for a fight to come out victorious. Two weeks ago, when Arcadia played the Seton Catholic Sentinels, they were the first on the board but had to settle for second against a robust Seton Catholic offense.

Arcadia reluctantly found themselves struggling early on after Seton Catholic put up 21 points in the first half. Nonetheless, Arcadia was able to counter with their own 14-point attack, but it was not enough to hold off the Sentenials 36 points in the second half resulting in a 29-57 punch to the gut defeat.

One key player that keeps the Arcadia’s postseason hopes alive is the consistent and solid performances from junior Kadin Beler. In his last outing, Beler picked up 120 yards on the field and accumulated 96 passing yards. While Beler’s performance may not have been enough to overcome Seton Catholic, Beler feels that he and his team feel more prepared for this week than they have all season.

“Each week we come together as a team and really get dialed in for what we need to do each day,” Beler said. “But this week, especially after the bye week, we’ve just been studying all the little things, and if we execute the way we’ve been practicing, I think we’re going to play big Friday night.”

Meanwhile, Poston Butte suffered through a three-game losing streak of their own, but they came out victorious 31-15 last week over Marcos de Niza. Their success represented a nice turnaround for Poston Butte who in their previous game suffered a tough 15-49 defeat against Mesquite High School, a similar loss Arcadia faced the week before Seton Catholic.

Two key players for Poston Butte are junior Khalil Cooper, who rushed 109 yards for two touchdowns, and senior Carlos Roman who rushed 130 yards for one touchdown. Both players were able to secure the victory for the Broncos against Marcos di Niza.

While Poston Butte is looking to repeat their win against Arcadia, wide receiver SaMaury Alexander sees otherwise.

“While we started off strong and it went a little downhill after that, that’s all going to change this week,” Alexander said. “We’ve done a lot of preparing with the bye week, putting in the extra work conditioning and studying the other team. So, I think we’re ready to finish the season as we started.”