WEEKLY BLOG: 11/18/22

In the first round of the 5A playoffs in Scottsdale on Friday night, Horizon served notice to not forget who the defending conference champions are.

Notre Dame has just one loss to Open team Chandler. Desert Mountain looks primed for another run this year. Higley has moved down from 6A and has a cranked up offense. Cactus moved up and continues to win football games. But, the Huskies remember what it took to get there last season and started what they hope is another run to Sun Devil Stadium with a 49-0 victory over Gilbert.

It was an offense that moved like a machine with touchdowns on all five first half drives. Another score was provided with the defense, which forced three turnovers and provided points with a pick-six as well.

Horizon (7-4) advanced to play at Cactus (8-3) next Friday in Glendale.

In a game like this, it's hard to pinpoint one thing, but there were two key things in the first quarter that started getting the ball rolling, and then maintaining it.

Horizon felt it could take advantage in the trenches with its offensive line and showed that in its first drive by calling 13 run plays in a 73-yard, 14-play possession that resulted in the game's first points, a run by junior running back Anthony Segura, who went up the middle untouched.

Following a punt return by Cole Linyard to the Gilbert 12-yard line (31-yard return), the Huskies faced a fourth-and-four from the 6-yard line. A defensive lineman for Gilbert jumped offside and the ball was moved half the distance for an easier fourth-and-one. Horizon made the first down and then freshman Bodie Zamorano punched it in from the 1 to extend the lead to 14-0.

The byproduct of that play in the trenches created a massive advantage in the ground game. Horizon outrushed Gilbert by a 217-13 count. Throughout the season, the numbers were similar as both teams averaged 155-160 rushing yards per game.

So, we give a shoutout to the Huskies' offensive line, Jager Monongye, Jonathan Blohm, Reece Parker, Dylan Nolancook, Conner Secor, and Carter Lavrusky.

A total of 177 of those yards came in the first half as Horizon established a 42-0 lead with 6:05 remaining in the second quarter to fire up a running clock for the remainder of the game.

The pick goes to this touchdown pass from Kaden Zordani to Matthew Klopfenstein. It was the first TD that didn't come via the run.

The nod goes to quarterback Roman Funk, who didn't start, but had touchdown runs of 23 and 12 yards, plus a 37-yard TD pass to Klopfenstein.

A case could also be made for Klopfenstein, who caught two TD passes and provided blocking for an offense that ran the ball on 38 out of its 45 offensive plays. Klopfenstein (6-5, 225) is a Baylor commit.

There are some that will tell you that if you have two quarterbacks, you don't have any quarterbacks. That's not the case at Horizon, where both Funk and Zordani have shared snaps throughout the season.

The two seniors compete with one another in practice and go series to series in the first half, with the coaching staff often going to the hot hand in the second half.

Zordani proved to be mobile as well, rushing for 26 yards on six carries and tossing a touchdown to Klopfenstein.

When your team posts 42 points in 18 minutes, it's not all about the offense. Horizon's defense either set up scores, made ones themselves, forced turnovers, and made stops with three-and-outs.

An interception by Alec Eckholm, who was a first team All-5A San Tan Region selection, set Horizon up with a short field at the Gilbert 23. On the first play of a Gilbert drive, junior cornerback Tanner Noot intercepted a pass and took it back 50 yards for a score.

Defensive lineman Casey Hixson recovered a fumble and sophomore Jackson Murray (also a First Teamer) recorded a pair of sacks.

Gilbert (6-5) played for the 5A Northeast Region title a week ago and led Notre Dame Prep at the half. It's an Ironman Tiger team that features several players that play on both sides of the ball.

The argument can be made that Gilbert is one of the top teams in the state and making the most of what they have. It's a team that saw where one publication in the state projected them to finish dead last in the region and then the Tigers seeked out all season to prove them wrong.

Few outside of the GHS locker room walls foresaw Gilbert making the postseason after a 4-6 year in 2021 and joining a difficult region that includes Desert Mountain and Sunnyslope (as well as NDP).

Unfortunately, one of the Tigers' top players, Cooper Zellner, went down in the first half and suffered a broken nose, concussion, and eyelid laceration. The son of head coach Derek Zellner is a warrior and has much to be proud of after scoring 10 touchdowns and leading Gilbert in tackles with 121.

Gilbert does return quarterback Danny Hesse, who threw 13 touchdown passes in his junior year.

"Looking at film, we liked running the ball," Horizon head coach Andy Litten said. "We knew they had some guys that went both ways and we wanted to run them down a little bit. We thought the ground and pound would work tonight and that's what we started off with."

"We had a great week of practice," Horizon offensive guard Jonathan Blohm said. "We've been putting up big rushing performances all season, and we knew we were going to have another one tonight. Our game plan was to come in and run the ball and we did exactly that."

"The whole team came in ready and prepared," Horizon quarterback Roman Funk said. "Coming off last week (a loss to ALA-Queen Creek), we knew we had to step it up and it's a new season for the playoffs."

"I couldn't be more proud of this group," Gilbert head coach Derek Zellner said. "Many of them played together growing up. An unforgettable season, despite the outcome."

"We are still the 5A state champs and we're coming back to prove that," Blohm said.

First Quarter:
Hor - Anthony Segura 4 yard run (Kanyon Floyd kick), 4:43
Hor - Bodie Zamorano 1 yard run (Floyd kick), 1:26
Hor - Roman Funk 23 yard run (Floyd kick), 0:16
Second Quarter:
Hor - Funk 12 yard run (Floyd kick), 9:11
Hor - Matthew Klopfenstein 17 yard pass from Kaden Zordani (Floyd kick), 6:20
Hor - Tanner Noot 50 yard interception return (Floyd kick), 6:05
Third Quarter:
Hor - Klopfenstein 37 yard pass from Funk (Floyd kick), 9:38
Fourth Quarter:
No Scoring

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