By: Jake Novy

In a contest with plenty of playoff implication, the Chandler Wolves head to Tempe to square off against the Corona del Sol Aztecs on Friday night.  With just three games left in the regular season, the Aztecs have no time to waste in their quest to secure a postseason berth.  CDS has dropped two of its last three games and is coming off a 37-6 setback to Mountain Pointe last weekend to fall to 4-and-3 on the season.  Corona sits at 14^th in the Division One power rankings, however, they are just percentage points ahead of Westview, North Canyon and Mesquite.  The top 16 teams in the power rankings get into the playoffs.

Meanwhile, the Wolves are sitting pretty as far as their number-nine power ranking is concerned, but they still will likely have to win two of their last three games to solidify a legitimate seed in the playoffs.  Chandler beat Dobson, 42-26, last week to up its mark to 5-and-2 on the season.  Their only two losses this season have come to top-ranked Hamilton and number-four Basha.

This contest will likely come down to defense, due to the fact that both schools thrive on the offensive side of the ball.  Chandler is averaging just over 40 points per game.  The Wolves have a balanced passing and rushing attack led by junior quarterback Darell Garretson and senior running back Paul Perkins.  The duo is averaging a combined 300 yards per game.  The Aztecs get it done on the ground.  Senior running back Dominic Mercurio is posting around 170 yards via the ground per contest.

The two teams haven’t played since October 17^th, 2008 when Corona improved to a perfect 7-and-0 on the season with a 35-27 victory over the Wolves at Chandler.