Kenji Ito is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Phoenix Christian for AZPreps365.com. 

Phoenix Christian (0-6) remains winless after losing to its rival Arizona Lutheran, 44-14, on Friday.

As the Cougars' offense struggled, the Coyotes (4-1) had a very strong and consistent running game. Junior running back Gideon Enter rushed for 167 yards, two touchdowns, and three two-point conversions. A huge factor in the Coyotes' win was the formation they depended on, which included a two RB set with many blockers.

Another player who dominated the Cougars' defense was junior wide receiver Rylan Bass. He had 31 yards and 40 on the ground, including his TD run in the first half. On their first offensive play in the second half, Bass blew past all of the defenders for a 74-yard TD. He also played defensive back and intercepted a pass from junior quarterback Xavier Sandoval in the first quarter.

Sandoval had a solid performance as he went 13-of-18 and threw for a total of 196 yards. But Sandoval was not impressed and thought he could have done better.

“Most of the games I’ve been throwing 200, 200-plus yards, so 198 is nothing to me,' Sandoval said. "We can’t go into the past and change anything, so we gotta move on from it and just keep going."

The Cougars' offensive line had trouble protecting the pocket as Sandoval was sacked six times. However, Phoenix Christian head coach Dan Fort thought there was a bigger problem.  

“It’s probably less about the offensive line and more about making sure that I set him up to be able to get rid of the ball quickly with quicker routes,” Fort said. “That’s probably on me, and we got to fix that and improve that over the week.” 

Phoenix Christian's sizable 6-foot-2 WR Frank Rhynard (71 yards) also delivered several chunk plays from his catches in the second half. Since Fort addressed working on getting the ball out quickly, Rhynard might be a contributing factor to a possible new coaching philosophy. 

He said his best strength is running slants or out routes because of his height.

“... I’m a bigger dude, so I’m able to get my hands out and make sure they don’t slap the ball,” Rhynard said.

Rhynard attributed his relationship with first-year QB Xavier Sandoval to his playmaking as well.

“He’s my quarterback, and I respect him,” Rhynard said. “We have our own little made-up plays…

"When we see my defender, if he’s off, we’ll run something. If he’s on, we’ll run something. So we have a good relationship on picking each other up.”

Despite the lopsided score, the Cougars’ defense allowed just 14 second-half points after giving up 30 in the first. They also recovered two fumbles, including a muffed punt, which led them to score. Even though the two halves were statistically different, Fort mentioned that they did not make many changes at halftime and were more focused on executing their assignments.   

Phoenix Christians’ next matchup is a home game against the Fountain Hills Falcons at 7 p.m. on September 30.