Rees Goodall is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication student assigned to cover Tempe High School for AZPreps365.com.

TEMPE, Ariz. —- Amidst homecoming festivities, the Tempe Buffaloes struggled to find flow in a mistake-prone 21-7 loss to the Desert Sunrise Golden Hawks Friday night.

Tempe (3-2) came into the game in its hottest start since 2014, but struggled to showcase that early-season quality against Desert Sunrise.

The game was marred by penalties from both sides, but most impactful to the Buffaloes. Multiple times throughout the game, Tempe had big plays negated due to needless penalties.

“We know better. I don’t know if it was the festivities or what,” head coach Sean Freeman said. “(Desert Sunrise) played a great mental game with us.”

Trailing two scores in the third quarter, running back Adrian Hackett had a 14-yard carry negated by a holding penalty. The ball would’ve been placed at Desert Sunrise’s 44-yard-line. Instead, the ball stayed in Tempe territory, and just two plays later, a promising drive came to a close due to an untimely interception.

“Turnovers hurt. We were backs against the wall the whole night,” Freeman said. “We’re trying to come back from that, but we just lost our composure.”

The Buffaloes’ very next offensive drive had similar themes. Tempe had shown spurts of a good drive, but had an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty from a member of the coaching staff set themselves back 15 yards. A few plays later, and the drive ended in another interception.

“They got in our heads in the second half and all the penalties really messed us up,” junior wide receiver and defensive back Jaiden Hart-Rodriguez said. “We need to make better plays. We need to stop the run game. We need to adjust.”

Defensively, the Buffaloes had their own share of struggles as well. The Golden Hawks ran over over 193 yards,  as they were able to both advance the ball with will, and drain the clock while they were at it.

Senior running back Aime Lamour was instrumental in Desert Sunrise’s seven-minute long drive to open the second half. For much of the game, the Golden Hawks had abandoned passing the ball, bar a few screen passes and other quick passes mixed in. 

“We’re blessed to have Aime Lamour at running back,” Desert Sunrise head coach Steven Beard said about the three-year senior starter. “He’s the workhorse. He’s the guy that knows how to get it done in every play.”

Tempe’s offense struggled, as a result of the low time of possession. With just under 30 seconds left in the first half, senior quarterback Saul Mendez threw the first of his three interceptions. From there, Mendez wouldn’t see the ball until the five-minute mark of the third quarter.

“I think we held the ball too long in certain possessions, even though we had one step on guys,” Freeman said. “Saul, he’s a die-on-the-sword type of guy. Sometimes we gotta say, ‘man next play, just throw it away.’”

The Buffaloes have an interesting next week ahead, according to Freeman. The student-athletes are on fall break, but are also preparing for their first region game in the 4A Metro East against Greenway.

“You would hope this team would see the mistakes they made, and losing homecoming,” Freeman said. “There’s a little bit of moxie you need to get back. Get your swagger back. Desert Sunrise did a great job of taking it from us.”