Reece Judson is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Arcadia High School for AZPreps365.

A strong defense is said to be the key to winning games and on Friday night the Arcadia Titans defense dominated in its game against the Combs Coyotes, to prove the truth within this statement.

The Titans and the Coyotes came into Friday night’s game as undefeated teams through five weeks. The Coyotes shut out all five of their opponents as their defense had not allowed a single point to be scored against them.

Ultimately, it was the Titans who controlled the narrative as they shut out the Coyotes 37-0 and kept their undefeated season alive Friday night in a 4A Desert Sky Region game. 

The answer to stopping Comb’s five-game win streak, happened to be a dominant Arcadia defense that capitalized on the Coyotes' offensive weaknesses.

“Our defense played a great game, they set us up with good field position every time and it helped us get a lot of easy points in the red zone,” Titans senior quarterback Zach Smith said. “We just played our game tonight and when we do that, we come out and play our best game.”

Arcadia sophomore Jordan Barnes set the tone of the game as he returned the first kick off and ran the ball for 90 yards. Barnes' run set up the Titans offense with good field positioning and a good scoring opportunity.

Smith had the first touchdown of the game as he ran the ball into the end zone to put the Titans up 7-0.

For the Coyotes first drive of the game, Arcadia senior defensive back Kayan Cobb intercepted a pass from the Comb’s quarterback at the Titans 10-yard line. Cobb’s interception once again put the Titans offense in a position with a good scoring opportunity.

Smith quickly found junior wide receiver Konnor Kammes in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown catch to put Arcadia up 14-0.

The Coyotes' offense seemed to have felt the pressure from the Titans dominant defense in their second drive of the game, as the Titans forced Combs to fumble. Arcadia recovered the ball at the Titans 30-yard line for yet another good scoring opportunity.

Smith found his way into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game, the Titans now leading 20-0.

“Our defense was playing lights out tonight,” Titans head coach B.J. Pasquel said. “We capitalized on turnovers and so our defense made it easy for us.”

Arcadia’s defense forced Combs' offense to punt for their third drive of the game, which was recovered by senior running back Jax Ashley who found his way into the end zone for another Arcadia touchdown. The Titans lead 27-0.

 

Arcadia senior Jax Ashley breaks a tackle on a touchdown run. (Reece Judson photo/AZPreps365) 

For Combs' first drive of the second quarter, Barnes intercepted the ball at the Arcadia 14-yard line, which again set up the Arcadia offensive with good field positioning.

Titans senior running back Ryan Jimmenez then found his way into the end zone to put the Titans up 34-0.

With 5:35 remaining in the second quarter Arcadia sophomore defensive end Greyson Stauff blocked Combs' punt and Arcadia recovered the ball at the 20-yard line for yet another good scoring opportunity.

“A big part of our success is that our defense has weapons at every position on the line,” Titans senior Jimmenez said. “We have a motto where we rally to the ball and that is when we are most dominant as a team.”

The Titans brought out their field goal unit to end the half, and senior kicker Caleb Young completed the attempt to put Arcadia up 37-0.

For the second half of the game, the Coyotes defense found a way to stop the Titans offense from scoring, and the Titans took advantage of their run game to maintain possession and ultimately control the clock until the end of the game.

“That is back-to-back shut outs, two weeks in a row for us. Every team is just another obstacle on the way to where we want to go in the end,” Jimmenez said. “The brotherhood and the chemistry that we have on this team will get us there.”