Pusch Ridge Christian flexes muscles against Chandler Valley Christian; Tanque Verde wins in a rout

In back-to-back-to-back weeks, the Pusch Ridge Christian Lions were tasked with facing potential Class 3A playoff opponents.

They cruised past both of them, including Friday night's 52-20 win over visiting Chandler Valley Christian. 

The Lions routed Sabino last Friday, but fell to undefeated Thatcher the week prior. 

"The last three weeks was our gauntlet, because we played Thatcher, Sabino and Valley Christian — and all of them are very solid football teams," said Pusch Ridge coach Kent Middleton. "We looked at them and said that we're going to have to play some really good football, mistake-free football.

"We did for the most part play mistake-free football, but this was a big part of our schedule and we came out of it 2-1. Now we just to finish off the rest of the season." 

The Lions have scored at least 50 points in four games this season. Valley Christian averaged 58 points in the last four games heading into Friday, but Pusch Ridge's defense held it to a season low in points. 

"I thought our defense played its best game that we played in probably four weeks. They played really well, really strong and really solid," Middleton said. "They didn't give up any big plays for the most part. ... Our defense played really, really well and we stopped the run. When you stop the run, it allows you to do things defensively, and we were able to do that tonight." 

Valley Christian quarterback Hunter Heeringa completed a 37-yard pass to Eric Miller on the Trojans' opening drive, but linebacker Tyler Mustain pressured Heeringa on the following third down to force the Trojans to punt. 

On the first play from scrimmage for Pusch Ridge, Lions senior running back Brysen Barrios ran for an 80-yard touchdown to give PRCA a 7-0 lead. 

Pusch Ridge had a chance to go up by two scores, but senior running back Abraham Grajeda fumbled inside the 30-yard line and the Trojans recovered. Heeringa converted the takeaway into points with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Heinrich to tie the contest 7-7. 

That was Valley Christian's final touchdown until the start of the fourth quarter. During that span, the Lions scored 45 straight points.  

Grajeda redeemed his earlier mistake with a 5-yard touchdown, wide receiver Jack Butler hauled in a 41-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bubba Mustain, and Barrios scored his second touchdown of the night late in the second quarter. Middleton coined the tandem of Barrios and Grajeda as the Lions' "two-headed monster at running back."

"When you're able to run the football, it just makes everything a lot easier and allows you to get the ball in other people's hands, too," Middleton said. 

To end the first half, Lions receiver Cody Rafacz caught a 43-yard pass down to the 5-yard line, which was capped off with a 22-yard field goal by Tyler Nolan to make it 31-7 at halftime.

"We came out with a lot of energy in the first half, coming out strong and fast. That's what we preach any time we come on the field — and be physical and use our speed to our advantage, and I think we did that very well tonight," Mustain said. 

To start the third quarter, Mustain, Pusch Ridge's star junior quarterback, connected with older brother Tyler Mustain for an 81-yard touchdown.

"It was a screen play to the left. I mean he's a big guy, pretty fast, so if I was on defense, I wouldn't want to tackle him either. He can move and when he gets out into open space, he's a pretty scary guy," Bubba Mustain said. 

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On the following Valley Christian possession, Pusch Ridge captain Bryce Jewell intercepted Heeringa for a 25-yard pick-six to extend the lead to 45-7. Bubba Mustain put the final stamp on the game for the Lions' starters with an 8-yard touchdown run. 

"This was a big-time win," Mustain said.

Pusch Ridge Christian (7-1) will face Palo Verde on the road next Friday. 

Weber leads Cienega past Buena

Evan Weber threw for 151 yards and five touchdowns as Cienega notched its first victory since Sept. 2 with a 49-19 win over Sierra Vista Buena in Vail.

Jimmy Diaz caught four passes for 44 yards and three touchdowns, and Keron Watson and Gavin Peterson hauled in scores. Cienega scored four third-quarter touchdowns to pull away.

The Bobcats (2-4) will play road games against Ironwood Ridge, Desert View and Mountain View before finishing the regular season with a home game against Tucson High.

Tanque Verde rolls past Bisbee

Brayden Scott rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns and Tanque Verde put up 319 rushing yards on the way to a 57-0 win over Bisbee on Friday night.

Toby Herfkens and James Torok added touchdowns on the ground, and Josh Lopez hauled in a touchdown catch in the runaway victory. Coach Jay Dobyns' team threw the ball just seven times, completing four passes — two of them for touchdowns.

Since starting 0-4, Tanque Verde has won four consecutive games — one by forfeit. Its last three victories have come by a combined score of 172-0.

The Hawks will play at Tombstone next week before hosting Willcox.

Photos: Pusch Ridge Christian vs. Chandler Valley Christian high school football