Aiden Schmitz is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North Canyon high school for AZPreps365.com

The North Canyon Rattlers and the Carl Hayden Community Falcons faced off Friday night in a windy game that led to many, many runs. Ultimately, North Canyon came away with a 38-0 win in its final regular season home game. 

North Canyon started with the ball and struck first, as Rattlers quarterback Karlos Romandia ran in his first of three rushing scores of the night. 

Romandia is a dual threat quarterback and the Rattlers take every advantage of that in their offensive gameplan.

"I can throw the ball, I can run it; you have to worry and adjust to both games," Romandia said. "We have a sharp run game; AJ [Garcia] in the backfield, you got to worry about me, you got to worry about him. It's always a one-two punch."

And a one-two punch it was, as the Rattlers totaled six rushing touchdowns on the night, in thanks to Romandia and AJ Garcia, who accounted for another two long rushing touchdowns, both occurring in the second quarter. 

With this win, North Canyon moved to 6-2 on the year. That record means more than meets the eye, as it is more wins than the Rattlers’ two previous seasons combined, when Rattlers head coach Anthony Johns took over.

"When I got here my first year we went 0-10, those guys were sophomores,” Johns said. “We had a bunch of them play varsity.

"We knew we were going to take our lumps, but we knew we would gain experience, and that's what it's done."

North Canyon senior AJ Garcia (#7) runs looking to make a big play. (Aiden Schmitz photo/AZPreps365)

For Carl Hayden, the opposite story occurred. With only 16 total players suited up, the gameplan seemed to be set in stone from start to finish.

The Rattlers answered a multitude of Falcons' runs. Carl Hayden finished the night with zero pass attempts. 

With the windy conditions and the style of play on both sides, the western themed home game for North Canyon fit perfectly with the old style of play that came about.

North Canyon quarterback Karlos Romandia throwing one of few passes all night. (Aiden Schmitz photo/AZPreps365)

North Canyon didn't just dominate on one side of the ball, though. Its defense made plays throughout the night, even with the Falcons’ stagnant offensive plan. 

The Rattlers were able to force two fumbles in the second half, bringing more life and juice to the already dominant performance. 

With a win like this and a few more weeks outside of playoffs, all the right things are falling into place for North Canyon at the right times. 

"When you win games, it builds confidence,” Johns said. “Their thought process is like, 'Hey, we can do this."That's really what it is for us. As you continue to build confidence and push forward."