Brandon Cadiz is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Canyon View High School for AZPreps365.com

“If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” Canyon View coach Cory Beal said at walk-through practice, a day before the Jaguars’ season opener versus the Verrado Vipers.

Canyon View quarterback Katelyn Jewell is coming off a 3,600-yard season. She threw for 55 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last year. The senior also made MaxPreps’ list of 20 high school flag football players to watch in the country.
 

The Jaguars kept the same philosophy of running their offense through their star quarterback on Tuesday night as Jewell led her team to a 42-14 victory over Verrado.

Jewell completed 16 of 22 passes for 202 yards and four touchdowns.

“Katelyn is efficient. She’s a surgeon,” Beal said. “I will say I gave her a little bit of a hard time at the end of the third-quarter drive. She had only completed two passes at that time (in the drive).”

With little to critique about the quarterback, Canyon View’s offense was efficient throughout the game.

Junior defensive back and wide receiver Arri Richardson dominated both sides of the ball. Richardson had four carries for 36 yards. As a receiver, she connected with Jewell five times for 49 yards.

The fun for Richardson did not stop on offense as she intercepted Verrado freshman quarterback Mia Williams’ pass for a pick-six that went 80 yards with just 58 seconds left in the first half. That gave Canyon View a  28-0 lead.

Williams and Verrado were pass-heavy all night long. She threw 48 passes and completed 25 of them. 

The freshman quarterback threw for 276 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Canyon View was prepared for the Vipers' aerial attack. 

“Tonight’s defense brought good coverage between communication, being aggressive, and knowing the plays,” Richardson said.

The aggressiveness on defense was evident as senior linebacker and center Maycie Bassett returned Canyon View’s second pick-six of the night for 47 yards early in the third quarter, extending the Jaguars’ lead to 35-0.

Bassett led the team with nine tackles and added a pass deflection to her defensive performance. The senior had 117 tackles as a junior last season.
 

“It’s a mental game. Defense is very mental,” Bassett said. “You have to know where to go, what to do. We have to watch the ball and I think we need a little bit more work with that.”

The sentiment was the same from  Beal. He was impressed with the offensive showcase but believed the defense has room for improvement.

Canyon View only allowed their opponents to score 4.3 points per game last season in 16 games.

“That fact that they put 14 on us, that encourages us to get back to work,” Beal said. “That’s nothing against them. We have high expectations. It makes us just want to drive harder for the next five days to get ready for Desert Edge next week.”

Canyon View (1-0) will host Desert Edge (1-0) next Tuesday at 6 p.m. Verrado (1-1) will travel to Lake Havasu (1-0) on Tuesday at 6 p.m.