No. 3 Pusch Ridge beat No. 6 Round Valley 44-0 Friday night at home to advance to the 3A semifinal round where the Lions will face No. 2 Eastmark on Saturday, Nov. 19 at Mountain Pointe High School. The game time has not been set but there will be a double header scheduled with No. 1 Thatcher facing off against No. 4 Show Low in the other game. The championship is slated for Saturday, Nov. 26 at Desert Vista High School at 6 p.m.

The Lion offense was on fire all night with the only stop coming with 7:33 left in the game on a turnover on downs with a 44-0 lead and a running clock. The defense was equally impressive, forcing the Elks to punt two minutes into the game and then stopping the Elk offense again on a fourth-and-goal situation just short of the goal line on the next possession. Both stops resulted in touchdown passes from Bubba Mustain to his brother Tyler Mustain.

The first TD pass came at the 8:03 mark of the first quarter on a fourth down play from 11 yards out and the second came at the end of a 99-yard drive from 5 yards out with 9:22 left in the half. The Elks punted again and the Mustain brothers connected from 33-yards out to put the Lions up 21-0 with 5:28 left in the half.

Round Valley was forced to punt once again and Mustain hit Cody Rafacz from 74 yards out to give Pusch Ridge a 28-0 lead with 3:07 left in the half. The Elks punted one last time in the half but there was still enough time for Tyler Nolan to connect on a 28-yard field goal to put Pusch Ridge up 31-0 at the half.

The Lions took the opening drive of the second half to the endzone with Brysen Barrios running a TD in from 5 yards out to put Pusch Ridge up 37-0 with 9:33 left in the third quarter. Bryce Jewell ended the scoring with a 50-yard interception return to give the Lions a 44-0 lead with 5:34 left. The Elks had one last shot at a score but the team gave up the ball on downs at the 6-yard line as time expired.

Round Valley ended the season in the quarterfinal round for the second year in a row and the program won the 2A state championship in 2019 before moving up to the 3A Conference. Pusch Ridge is now 11-1 on the year.

Eastmark is also 11-1 after the Firebirds beat Sabino for the second time this year. The semifinal game will be the first meeting between Eastmark and Pusch Ridge. Thatcher (12-0) beat No. 8 Valley Christian 56-35 and Show Low (11-1) beat No. 5 Paradise Honors 77-42 to set up the other half of the bracket. This will also be the first game of the year between Thatcher and Show Low. Both games will be streamed on the NFHS Network.