AIA tagline Zach Wargo is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Phoenix Christian Football for AZPreps365.com.

The Phoenix Christian football team improved to 3-3 on the season and 1-0 in 3A Metro West region play after defeating Bourgade Catholic 25-7 on Friday night. The Cougars offense ran the ball effectively in the first half and their aggressive defense held the Golden Eagles to just one touchdown in front of an energetic crowd.

Coming off a win last week at Window Rock, the Cougars utilized a six-play, 74-yard drive to open the game and take a swift 7-0 lead on junior running back Cam’ryn Hatter’s 31-yard rushing touchdown.

The Golden Eagle offense failed to produce anything for most of the first half, and the Cougars forced them to punt on consecutive drives and gave the ball back to the Cougars.

Once Phoenix Christian got the ball, Hatter and senior quarterback Cristian Mackey controlled the offense to lead the Cougars to another touchdown on Mackey’s 16-yard pass to sophomore tight end Addison Fisher in the first quarter.

Bourgade Catholic failed to cross the 50-yard line in the first half and sophomore quarterback Jimmy Hill was sacked twice in the second half.  

Phoenix Christian ended the first half with a six-play, 57-yard drive which featured Mackey scrambling right and throwing a pass to junior wide receiver Angel Gutierrez for a 24-yard touchdown to give the Cougars a 19-0 lead going into halftime. 

The Cougars rushed for 179 yards in the first half alone, and 271 total yards for the game. Quarterback Mackey threw for 92 yards and scrambled for 36 yards on the ground. 

“We have some big guys and once they get their mind into the game and know what they are doing, I don’t think anyone can really stop them,” Mackey said.  “We got a good group right there and I’m so lucky to have them blocking for me.”

The second half featured less offense, but the Cougars maintained their intensity on defense, forcing two interceptions along with two fumbles. Phoenix Christian totaled six sacks on the night.

The lone score for Phoenix Christian in the second half came on a 1-yard run by Hatter for his second touchdown of the night. His score capped off a six-play, 90-yard drive that extended the lead to 25 points. Hatter finished with 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Despite the struggles on offense for the Golden Eagles, they were able to covert on a third-and-12 as sophomore receiver Randy Perez sprinted down the sideline for a 76-yard touchdown to give Bourgade Catholic its only points of the night to put them down 25-7.

Phoenix Christian head coach Dan Fort was pleased with his team’s effort but wanted to see his group execute better in the second half.

“We could have managed the changes on defense Bourgade was doing,” Fort said. “I could have done a better job on play-calling to get us in some easier first down situations.” 

Phoenix Christian has won two straight games and moved into first place in the 3A Metro West standings Friday night, with a 3-3 record overall, a 3-2 conference record, and with a 1-0 record in the region. The Cougars hope to keep the confidence into October.

“The win last week was great motivation and good momentum, and we were able to bring it into this week to prepare hard for Bourgade and now the job is to focus on the next game.” Gutierrez said.

Phoenix Christian will travel to play Dysart at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8 in El Mirage.