Ironwood Ridge went 1-9 last year after finishing 8-3 in back-to-back seasons under head coach Dale Stott. The Nighthawks appear to be back on the winning side after beating Casa Grande 47-13 Friday night at home to move to 3-1 in Stott’s fifth year at the helm. The Nighthawks also finished 1-9 in 2022 so Stott has been here before, but he has to prepare for one of the most difficult schedules down the stretch.

The Nighthawks will travel to play at Sonoran Region and longtime rival Canyon del Oro (2-2) next week, followed by Marana (2-2), Desert Mountain (4-0), Vista Grande (3-1), Tucson (3-1) and Buena (2-2) and only the games with Vista Grande and Tucson will be played at home.

Things can fall apart quickly but the rewards are also there for the taking and, with a 24-team state bracket in the 5A Conference, a 7-3 record should result in a favorable playoff seed and six wins almost guarantees a playoff spot somewhere on the bracket. In fact, four teams made the playoffs last year with only five wins and two of those teams advanced to the second round.

Casa Grande fell to 1-3 on the year but the winning culture is still there under head coach Joe Thomas. The program went 13-0 only five years ago but the team only has 12 seniors on the roster this year to go along with 26 freshmen and sophomores. Starting quarterback Ben Matecki will be a senior next year so this is a program on the horizon.

Matecki threw two late touchdown passes at Ironwood Ridge in the second half and he was able to pick his spots down the field at times but the Nighthawks were paced by the play of junior QB Max Harder and senior Zarin Robbins.

Harder and Robbins connected for three touchdowns to start the game off with the first from 55 yards, the second from 76 yards out and the third from seven to put the Nighthawks up 21-0 with 11 minutes left in the first half. That was followed by a bizarre play were a Harder offering was tipped twice before sophomore Kayleb Benford came up with an interception in the end zone. Benford attempted to run the ball out but he was spun around by Kole Harvey, causing a fumble, and Robbins fell on the ball for his fourth score to make it 27-0 with 5:58 left.

Harder made it 34-0 at the half on a 48-yard run of his own and then 40-0 on a short run from Harder with 8:37 left in the third. Matecki hit Kaelem Sosa to cut the lead down to 40-7. Robbins took the ensuing kickoff back for his fifth touchdown of the game and then Matecki passed to Jarrell Gaines for the 47-13 final.

To top it off, Robbins was named Homecoming Royalty at halftime.

Zarin Robbins with his Homecoming Crown after the game. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)