No. 3 Pusch Ridge beat No. 15 Safford 62-7 on Senior Night but the victory guaranteed at least one more home game for the Lions next week in the first round of the 3A Conference playoffs. The Lions are sure to be watching the AIA 2A-3A Bracket Release Show Saturday morning starting at 9 a.m. to see which team will play them a visit next Friday night. The Lions will also be pulling for a top-four ranking which guarantees a home game in the quarterfinal round.

The region champions earn a playoff berth at the 2A and 3A level and all six region champions in the 3A Conference entered the last week ranked in the top 10 so there will be no surprises there. Safford fell to 4-6 on the year and the loss puts the Bulldogs at risk of losing an at-large berth, especially with several teams ranked below them winning their last games Friday night.

The Bulldogs started the season out 1-5 but the team won three games in a row and upset Benson last week to climb back into playoff contention. The team also had the fifth most difficult schedule coming in based on their average opponent ranking which gave a boost to their power-ranking. Pusch Ridge (9-1) lost to presumptive top-seed Thatcher 28-14 midway through the season and the team has been on a roll otherwise averaging 48 points a game, including six games with over 50 points scored and three with over 60.

The Lion defense has only given up 13 points a game to this point and the production on both sides of the ball can be traced back to the line play, anchored by senior DE standout Will Way (6-4, 255). Junior QB Bubba Mustain threw for over 2,000 yards this year and senior RBs Breyson Barrios and Abraham Grajeda combined for over 1,300 yards on the ground. Senior receivers Bryce Jewell, Tyler Mustain, Cody Rafacz and Jack Butler are the main targets with almost identical stats which stretches defenses thin.

Tyler Mustain, Bubba’s older brother, has over 110 tackles from his linebacker position and Jewell, Butler, Andrew Holbert, Way, Barrios, Will Joyce and Grajeda have over 30 tackles each, which stretches the opposing offense to their limits and the DB’s have almost 15 interceptions on the year.