Nicholas Pietrzycki is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Arcadia High School for AZPreps365.com.  

As the 2021 Arizona high school football season comes to an end many teams begin to peer into the future. Whether it's a team with their playoff berth already clinched or a team that has no chance of making the playoffs. Teams look into the future, despite what some coaches might tell you ... unless their destiny is unknown.

This is the case for both the Arcadia Titans and the Poston Butte Broncos, two teams with their destinies currently unknown and much to play for tonight when the two square off at Arcadia. Both teams heavily focused on not looking ahead and winning the game at hand. 

Simply, it is an old clichè: “Win, and you are in.” Both Arcadia and Poston Butte come into tonight’s game undefeated in region play. The winner will decide not only the 4A Black Canyon region title, but also who is guaranteed an automatic playoff berth in the 4A playoffs next week. 

“We all we got! We all we need!” has echoed from the Titans’ locker room after multiple wins this season, and has become a rallying cry for the 5-4 Titans. 

“I know exactly who our football team is,” Arcadia head coach Ray Brown said. 

The Titans got off to a slow start in the first half of the season, posting a 1-3 record and struggling to find their footing on offense. The Titans rattled off a four-game win streak after their third loss of the season. With two of the four wins coming on the road, these games have helped the Titans find the confidence that they lacked at the beginning of the year, according to multiple players. 

“We’re teaching them [the players] if we watch tape if we lift weights and if we practice, we’re preparing to win,” Brown said. 

However, the Titans hit a roadblock last week, halting their win streak. This roadblock occurred when the Titans picked up a game mid-week against Casa Grande after previously having a bye week scheduled. 

“I asked our team if we wanted to play,” Brown said. 

The players agreed and Arcadia traveled down to Casa Grande. Unfortunately, the game did not go as planned, as the Titans lost 50-7 to Casa Grande, ending their win streak. 

In 4A Black Canyon play, the Titans are currently undefeated with wins against both Combs and Tempe. However, the Titans did not play all their scheduled region games this season after their game against Apache Junction was canceled due to an alleged threat on social media, back in late October. The game did not get rescheduled. 

The Titans are extremely focused on the task at hand, heading into the game tonight. 

“This is the most focused we’ve been all season,” junior wide receiver Damian Jachnik said.

The Titans will capture their first playoff berth since 2015 with a win today. But their opponents are looking to capture their second 4A Black Canyon region title in a row. 

“To repeat as a regional champ is a great thing for a newer school,” Poston Butte head coach Dain Thompson said. “We’re doing everything we can to build this program up.”

Poston Butte High School opened in 2009, and a little after a decade from its opening, the football program is looking to take its step into the spotlight.

The Broncos have played well this season, according to Thompson, posting a 7-2 record, with their only two losses coming against Cactus and the American Leadership Academy - Queen’s Creek. But both of those teams are ranked first and second in the 4A division and could potentially compete in the Open division playoffs.

For the Broncos, they want to repeat, winning the school’s first-ever back-to-back regional titles in the program’s history. 

“The team has very high hopes for themselves,” Thompson said. “We have a desire to be really good as a team.”

However, if they make the playoffs, history is not on the Broncos' side. The school’s football program has made the playoffs in the past but has never made it past the first round. To make it past there and to defeat the Titans tonight, the Broncos will rely on the second-leading rusher in 4A Black Canyon, senior running back Octavious Joe. 

Joe has been the lead running back in a dynamic multi-back system run by the Broncos. Joe has rushed for just shy of 1,300 yards this season, along with other ball carriers senior Drew Dalmacio, senior Keith Gray and junior Aidan Contreras. 

“Having an offense that suits your players and your players’ abilities is the most important thing you can do in high school [football],” Thompson said. 

With all the clichès aside, both Arcadia and Poston will look to make history tonight. Both sides are hyper-focused and locked in for this game, according to members from both teams. Simply the winner tonight will not only win the game but look to create some history of their own and leave their marks on their respective programs. 

“We have a goal to win the region championship on Friday,” Thompson said.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST on Friday at Arcadia High School.