Evan Slotnik is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Sunrise Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com.

 

Senior captain Max Squires walked over to line up to be nominated for the Sunrise Mountain Homecoming King joined by his parents. As he walked through the purple and white arch of balloons at midfield and had his name announced on the intercom, the filled stands for the home Sunrise Mustangs cheered extra loud, appreciative of the 27-7 lead he and his team held. 

The first half success for the Mustangs continued throughout the rest of the game as they defeated the visiting West Point Dragons 45-7, improving to a record 2-3 on the season and extending their win streak to two games. The Mustangs continue to be perfect playing at home in Peoria. 

A big reason for the success of the Mustangs offense is due to their excellent ground game, which played a critical part in their victory. Senior running back Nicholas Bombaci had three touchdowns for the Mustangs offensive effort. Much of that was due to the success of the offensive line in front of him.

Right tackle Squires said, “Honestly I just do what I'm told I block for my running backs when I need to and block for my quarterbacks when I need to.” 

Due to the offensive success, the win streak for the Mustangs has extended to two after dropping the first three of the season. 

“We play a lot of different skill level teams this year and our schedule is going to come at us and we're going to have to roll with the punches," Squires said, adding that he is already looking forward to next week. 

The Mustangs got off to a hot start and scored 14 points in the first quarter including a fumble recovery.

Mustangs head coach Steve Decker said he was very pleased with the offensive start. 

“Just getting used to our offense and being in no huddle and getting things moving," Decker said.

The Mustangs defense also played perfect as the only points the Dragons scored were on a kick return for the special teams. The Mustangs have given up double digit point totals in all of their games leading up to this matchup.  

“I think they are getting used to what we want to see as a coaching staff and meeting all of the expectations of how we want things played, and they are doing a lot better of not blowing assignments," Decker said.