Football Preview: Glendale at (9) Arizona Western
Kickoff: 7 p.m. today, Veterans Memorial Stadium
Last game: AWC bounced back after its first loss of the season with a 53-0 thrashing of Pima on Saturday. Glendale lost to Mesa 14-12 on Oct. 14 before heading into a bye week.
Records: AWC (6-1 overall, 4-1 Western States Football League); Glendale (2-3, 4-4 WSFL)
Players to watch: Matador wide receiver Ge'shun Harris caught two of Brandon Gorsuch's three touchdown passes last week. ... Gaucho defensive lineman Rusty Fernando is among the league leaders in sacks (six in seven games).
AWC coach Tom Minnick's comments: "You want to do what you're good at but now you have to disguise it in different ways, and that's what happened last week with our I-formation and it worked out well. Depth becomes a key too. Reggie (Bullock) and George (Conley) and Isiah Wiley won't be playing, but we like Darius Kinney. He's had some good runs last week and he's a bit bigger of a force, so we'll need him."
The lowdown: Depending on which Glendale team shows up, AWC could have another cake walk in store or a real nail biter. The Gauchos have spent the season bouncing back and forth in the win and loss column with their share of offensive shootouts and defensive tug-of-wars. A month after losing an 8-2 game to Phoenix College, Glendale routed the Bears 49-19 at home. But the following week, they managed just two TDs and lost to a then-winless Mesa team. They also needed a blocked PAT in the fourth quarter to beat Pima 20-19. ...Minnick said Glendale's defense is the strength of its team and better than NMMI or Pima, which may keep the Matador "D" on the field more often. AWC's defense ranks just below Eastern Arizona's in the league and put 10 points on the board last week with a pair of safeties and an pick-six from Deonte Ball. ...On the offensive side of the ball, AWC remains the most high-powered machine moving and scoring the ball, though the absence of Bullock (hamstring) will change its appearance. Gorsuch boosted his stature among the league's QBs last week with a trio of TD passes. Both teams are run-oriented, as the Gauchos will depend on Brian Conley and D'Angelo Jones while Bullock continues to lead the Matadors. ...Glendale won last year's contest 30-14 at home in a game that featured a kickoff returned for a touchdown, an interception returned for a touchdown, two blocked extra points and 10 points in the final 3 minutes of the game. ...This is the final night game of the regular season for AWC. Next week's game at Phoenix and the home finale against Snow will be afternoon kickoffs.
