Matthew McCord is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Eastmark for AZPreps365.

The Eastmark High School football team beat Marcos De Niza 44-20 in a conference showdown Friday night. Eastmark found success in all facets of the game, but its offense is what truly shined.

Running back Coleman Samples finished with over 160 yards rushing and multiple touchdowns that pushed the lead to double digits.

“I’m just very proud of our linemen,” Samples said. “And how they’ve developed over the course of the season.”

Samples referred to his linemen as his main attribution of success, and showed his gratefulness for such a stout group. Samples finished Friday night's road game 13 yards short of a 1,000 on the season, and is in position to hit that mark in the final week of the regular season.

 

Eastmark lines up across from Marcos De Niza, preparing to run an offensive play in an AIA Conference 4A East Sky Section football game on Friday, October 27, 2023, at Marcos De Niza High School.

A lot of love didn’t only come from Samples for his offensive line, but from Eastmark head coach Travis Dixon as well.

 “Those five guys Tillman (Coplen), Easton Baer, Conner Main, Anthony (Milheiro), Cameron Roscher…those five guys have done a great job,” Dixon said. “Controlling the line of scrimmage all season.”

Dixon still knows that even though his running game has been great the last few weeks, he can still count on his passing game as well. “We’re controlling the run game,” Dixon said. “We can still be as effective and precision in the pass game as much as possible.” 

The passing game was once again great led by junior quarterback Mason Jensen, who threw multiple touchdowns and is nearing 20 on the season. He was not sacked once and had all the time to throw leading to great pickups by the Firebird offense. 

Toward the end of the second quarter, Eastmark ran a double pass that tricked Marcos De Niza and resulted in a touchdown to go up by 28 points. Plays like that tend to steal momentum straight from the opposing team, but in this case, it just continued to add on to an amazing night Eastmark was having.

Eastmark Athletic Director Kraig Leuschner, who has been with his team every step of the way, was blown away by the performance from his players.

“It’s great to see a region title, it’s great to see three in a row, it’s great to see them do it with a new coaching staff,” Leuschner said. “Battling injuries, kids coming back from beating leukemia … you can’t beat the feeling.” 

The player Leuschner was addressing was Kevin Winegar, who was cleared from leukemia on Oct.16. He made his season debut Friday, and helped Eastmark’s defense lock down Marcos De Niza for the majority of the game.

Eastmark and Marcos De Niza lineup in handshake lines after Eastmark defeated Marcos De Niza in an AIA Conference 4A East Sky Section football game on Friday, October 27, 2023, at Marcos De Niza High School.

Eastmark has a home conference game against Apache Junction at 7 p.m. on Friday. Eastmark is up to 7-2 on the season and will look to finish the regular season strong as it gains momentum heading into the 4A playoffs in its first year as a 4A school. The defending 3A champions know there's still work to do, and they’re going to make sure that they continue to show strength the rest of the season.