WEEKLY BLOG: 10/11/19

With just three weeks left in the season, Cactus Shadows is right where it wants to be. The Falcons are in a position to make the 5A playoffs for the first time since 2017, and for just the third time in the past nine years.

Cactus Shadows used a punishing ground game, a big-play offense, and a tenacious defense to overwhelm host Paradise Valley, 42-0, in a 5A Northeast Valley Region game Friday night in North Phoenix.

The visitors from Cave Creek wasted no time jumping out to the lead as senior running back Matthew Macdonald took a handoff on the third play of the game, found a hole to the right side and took off for a 48-yard scoring play.

Paradise Valley (5-2 overall, 1-2 5A Northeast Valley Region) entered the game averaging 49 points per contest. However, the Trojans suffered a rash of injuries that their small roster (about 35 players suited out) was unable to overcome.

Following Macdonald's touchdown, wide receiver Caleb Diaz (12 touchdowns this season) went down with an apparent leg injury on the ensuing kickoff. After being helped off the field, Diaz was carted off the field and taken to the hospital for evaluation.

Cactus Shadows (4-3, 2-1) usually relies on its rushing attack with a few different backs, but when the Falcons needed one through the air, they usually got it. Junior Jaden White completed a touchdown strike to tight end Dylan Brown on third-and-goal from the 5-yard line.

During a 14-0 first quarter, the Falcons outgained PVHS 128-14. The Trojans reached the Cactus Shadows 30-yard line, but on fourth-and-one, quarterback Ben Finley was stopped short on a run.

In the second quarter, Paradise Valley battled back and got inside the Falcons' 10-yard line. Finley took off on a run towards the left corner of the end zone, but was upended and flipped, landing hard and remaining on the turf for a few minutes. The North Carolina State commit trotted off the field, but was kept on the sideline with what looked like tests for a concussion. Finley did not return to the game.

Making matters worse, Paradise Valley was unable to score from the 1. The Trojans went backwards four yards, were then penalized, and missed a field goal. Finley also normally serves as the punter and kicker for PVHS.

"We just loaded the box and we knew that Ben Finley was out, so we applied pressure," Cactus Shadows senior linebacker Cole Cucitrone said. "We came in with the mindset that this is a playoff game for us."

Cucitrone played quarterback for the Falcons last season. This year, when the coaches wanted him over on the defensive side, he was a team player. Cucitrone, who is 6-1 and 215 pounds, broke his hand the first week of the season and played with the hand wrapped up.

In addition to Finley and Diaz, senior linebacker, Andrew Hunkin only played a couple series before leaving with an injury. Finley, Diaz, and Hunkin are three of the captains on the team. Wide receiver Mike Fitch was shaken up after a play, but did return in the second half.

Immediately after the goal-line stand and missed field goal, Cactus Shadows took that momentum and struck with a big play. White avoided a sack, fired the ball downfield to a wide open Logan Hasher. The 6-3 receiver broke one tackle and then got away from the Trojans and raced it 80 yards to the house.

In the final two minutes of the half, the Falcons tacked on another one with a pair of long runs from Macdonald (20 and 38 yards). That was sandwiched by a personal foul penalty on Paradise Valley and Cactus Shadows took a 28-0 lead into the locker room. Macdonald had most of his 156 rushing yards in the first half.

Due to a combination of injuries, and wanting fresh legs, Cactus Shadows has used a grouping of running backs. Entering the game, four different Falcons had 20 or more carries on the season. Macdonald was the hot hand in the first half and in the fourth quarter, two more rushers reached paydirt.

Junior Dylan Bernaud scored his fifth touchdown of the year on a run around the left where he showed off some shifty moves. Another junior, Chris Elletson, closed out the scoring with a 41-yard blast up the middle. On the night, Cactus Shadows totaled 298 yards of rushing.

"We felt if they had a weakness, it was their run defense," Cactus Shadows head coach Mike Hudnutt said. "Physical is what we're trying to do week in and week out."

Meanwhile, the defense kept the clamps on. Brown and Jacob Muniz each had sacks and Muniz also had a fumble recovery.

"In the locker room, we said we had to come out strong and keep it up, because we are trying to get to the playoffs," Muniz said.

Muniz, a senior defensive tackle, took last year off from football to concentrate on wrestling. He missed it and came back for his senior season. Muniz still plans on being on the wrestling team again this winter. He placed third in the state last February in the Division II, 145-pound class.

This was the first time Paradise Valley was shut out since 2010 (against Mingus). The Trojans had scored in 98 consecutive games. In this one, PVHS had six drives end on the Falcons' half of the field.

"I'm proud of my kids," Hudnutt said. "We did what we should have done with the injuries that they had. To jump out on them early was something that was important for us."

Cactus Shadows found itself ranked No. 20 in last week's AIA/MaxPreps 5A rankings with the top three moving on to the Open. The Falcons travel to Horizon (6-1) this Friday. The Huskies are coming off an emotional 35-34 double-overtime victory over Notre Dame and could be listed as one of the teams in position to make the Open bracket this Tuesday. After Horizon, CSHS has home games against Desert Mountain and McClintock. A 6-4 record will likely be good enough for the Falcons to secure one of those playoff positions.

Paradise Valley used backup left tackle Max Trapp as its quarterback after Finley left. He had a game effort, completing 13 passes for 124 yards.

"I have all the confidence in the world in him," Paradise Valley head coach Greg Davis said of Trapp. "We just couldn't get anything going tonight."

It's a senior-laden roster for the Trojans trying to get to the postseason for the first time. Of the 50 listed on the MaxPreps roster, 23 are seniors, with some of them being four-year varsity players that were thrust into action in 2016 during a 2-8 campaign. That group has improved each year to four wins as sophomores, and six a year ago. At 5-2 with back-to-back losses, and injury woes, the team finds itself at a crossroads.

Paradise Valley (ranked No. 16 in 5A) is on the road this Friday at McClintock (4-3). Like Cactus Shadows, McClintock will face the Trojans following a bye week. After that, the region heavyweights Horizon and Notre Dame loom.

"There's a huge life fork in front of us," Davis said. "The left side is the easy way of everyone giving up and it going downhill from here. The right side is for us to dig in and find a way to fix the problems and we get back on the train of working hard and knowing what we're doing."

First Quarter:
CS - Matthew Macdonald 48 yard run (Kade Doran kick), 10:26
CS - Dylan Brown 5 yard pass from Jaden White (Doran kick), 4:24
Second Quarter:
CS - Logan Hasher 80 yard pass from White (Doran kick), 7:27
CS - Macdonald 38 yard run (Doran kick), 1:41
Third Quarter:
No Scoring
Fourth Quarter:
CS - Dylan Bernaud 20 yard run (Doran kick), 11:44
CS - Chris Elletson 41 yard run (Doran kick), 6:00