Mason Seal is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX— As the final 30 seconds wound off the clock, the North High School girls flag football team huddled together in laughter and celebration. The Mustangs' reason for the excitement: a 45-0 win over Maricopa High School on Oct. 21.

“We did good,” freshman wide receiver Tahje Freeman said after the game. “Our defense stayed committed. Our offense was electric, and that’s what we needed.”

The offense Freeman talked about has been one of the best offenses in the state in 2025.

Coming into Oct. 21, North scored a combined 250 points in six games, and outside of one contest, the Mustangs put up at least seven points. 

North head coach Michael Butler was proud of his team's performance.

“It was great,” he said. “We looked at a little bit of film before the game and decided what we were going to run. We came back and slowly adjusted to the game plan.”

Just minutes into the first quarter, junior wide receiver Avyanna Buchanan found herself all alone in the Maricopa secondary and hauled in a long pass for a 76-yard touchdown.

“It felt really, really good,” she said. “I was very excited and glad I could play with a team like this.”

However, after that, the North offense struggled to find more big plays until late in the first half, when junior quarterback Jizzelle Escoffery scampered for a 60-yard score.

Escoffery had one thing going through her mind while carrying the pigskin across the goal line: give her team a two-score lead.

“Just win the game,” she said. “Just finish the game.”

Maricopa couldn’t get anything going with its next possession, then made the mistake of punting the ball to Buchanan, who promptly returned the punt 35 yards to give the Mustangs a 21-0 lead with 11 seconds left in the first half.

“Watching the punt return team that got me really hype,” Escoffery said.

After the break, North reeled off a field goal before Escoffery ran in another long touchdown; this time from 21 yards out to end the third quarter.

The Mustangs closed things out with a couple more scores in the fourth to conclude its seventh-straight victory, improving to 7-0 on the season.

Through seven games, North has now given up six points in seven games and have outscored opponents 295-6 in those contests.

Buchanan's impact extends beyond the offensive side of the ball and she shows up defensively with numerous tackles for loss and a sack, helping extend the Mustangs’ shutout streak to five straight games.

Next, North looks o make that number even better when they travel to Lake Havasu.

“We need to work on communication,” Freeman said. “That’s all it is, talking on defense, getting our corners and safeties to talk more, that’s about it.”