Kyle Krikorian is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Horizon High School for AZPreps365.com

The Horizon Huskies dropped their first game of the season, losing to the Pinnacle Pioneers 27-7 on Thursday night in Scottsdale.

The loss also marks the first game of the season where the Huskies’ offense did not produce more than 50 points in a game.

Horizon (3-1) elected to differ at the coin toss, which brought the defense onto the field to start the game.

Pinnacle (4-0) drove down the field in the opening drive but had to settle for a field goal after the Horizon defense came up big on a third-and-goal, which made the score 3-0 to start.

After returning from injury, junior quarterback Jase Ashley appeared as his usual self in the first drive for Horizon. On a 3rd and long situation, Ashley tucked the ball and scampered to the 40-yard line for a Horizon first down.

“Doing whatever I can to get back onto the field,” Ashley said. “It felt great to go out there and compete.”

After the huge play by Ashley early in the game, Horizon lost its momentum after a miscommunication with the handoff, fumbling the ball. Pinnacle recovered on the Horizon 48-yard line, bringing the Pinnacle offense a second try for a touchdown.

On the second offensive drive for Pinnacle, junior quarterback Wyatt Horton connected with sophomore wide receiver Josh Pinder to extend the lead to 10-0.

The Horizon defense held its own against Pinnacle’s offensive attack by minimizing the big-chunk plays and keeping them on the field longer.

Despite the effective defensive play from Horizon, the offensive side of the ball needed help moving downfield.

“We put our defense in a bad spot,” Horizon head coach Andy Litten said. “Offensively we turned the ball over and gave them a short field. But I’m proud of our defense; I thought they played very well.”

Late in the second quarter, with the score at 17-0 Pinnacle, Horizon finally found a rhythm and marched down to midfield.

Horizon faced a fourth-and-six play and elected to go for it. After Ashley scrambled out of the pocket, his pass fell incomplete, returning the ball to Pinnacle.

“This is the first time he has had a really big game,” Litten said. “But once he settled down, I thought he had a much better second half.”

To open the 3rd quarter, it was the same story for Horizon. Ashley and sophomore running back Bodie Zamorano created big runs to bring the offense closer to the end zone.

Once again, Horizon faced another fourth down situation in Pinnacle territory, but it came up short and gave the ball back to Pinnacle.

“I could have made some cutbacks,” Zamorano said. “That would have made bigger plays. Just got to get back in the film room and learn to hit the holes better.”

Horizon only got onto the scoreboard halfway through the 4th quarter, with senior running back Anthony Segura punching it in for six and making the final score 27-7.

Horizon will be on the road next week, facing the Millennium Tigers (2-1) at Millennium High School Friday, September 22, at 7 p.m.