This game lived up to all the hype as the Deer Valley Skyhawks stunned the Centennial Coyotes 14-7 in a battle of unbeatens Thursday night in Glendale. Both teams entered the tilt undefeated at 6-and-0, but it was the Skyhawks who kept their perfect season alive. Senior running back Trae Armstrong ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 1:13 to go in the third quarter. Armstrong also capped off a 10-play, 94-yard drive with his first score to tie the game at 7 with 34 seconds left in the first half. Armstrong, who now has 17 touchdowns on the season, was coming off back-to-back 200 yard games.

Auston Hillman finished 12-of-22 for 211 yards and also ran for 70 yards on 11 carries. The Deer Valley defense held Centennial to just 220 yards in the game. The Skyhawks put their perfect 7-and-0 mark on the line next week at home against Apollo. It’s the final home game of the year for Deer Valley, which plays at Ironwood and Mesquite to end the regular season. Apollo is 6-and-1 following a 49-0 rout of Sunnyslope. The Hawks’ only loss was at Centennial on September 15^th.

Troy Hawthorne’s 32-yard TD run midway through the first quarter was all the offense for the Coyotes, who were missing several key players in the contest including running back/cornerback Jalen Ortiz. Centennial head coach Richard Taylor said after the game that injuries are no excuse, “when we have somebody go down, we have other kids prepared” to step in. “I don’t think we did a very good job of coaching this week,” Taylor added, “I’m not putting any of this on the kids. It’s all on us.”

The Coyotes had a chance late, but a diving catch at the 2 yard line was called incomplete and wide receiver Hayden Sovacki was penalized 15 yards for arguing the call. Centennial was stopped after that. The Coyotes look to rebound next week at Independence. The Patriots fell to 0-and-7 after Friday’s 50-0 setback at Millennium.

Thomas Jenkins