John Busker is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North Canyon High School for AZPreps365.com.

PHOENIX - In a homecoming game to remember for North Canyon High School, the Rattlers (2-6), pulverized the Alhambra Lions (0-8) in a 56-6 rout this Friday. The Rattlers scored all eight of their touchdowns on the ground as their rushing attack overwhelmed the Alhambra defense.

It was a wide receiver, Izzy Durgin, who accounted for four of North Canyon's eight scores. Durgin's blazing speed on the Rattlers’ end-around plays was too much for the Lions as he slithered through their defense. Durgin would finish the game with eight carries for 103 yards, adding one catch for 44 yards as well as an interception while playing cornerback.

“It feels really good,” said Durgin. “All that hard work, those extra nights finally paid off, and we got a team win. It’s amazing.”

Durgin’s scores came mostly off those aforementioned end-arounds. His first came on the first drive of the game, where he came in motion from the slot and took the handoff 23 yards to the endzone. After running back Julian Jones scored the next two Rattler touchdowns, Durgin would take over at the start of the secon quarter: a 44-yard-catch followed by another end-around, this time for 26 yards and a touchdown.

After a bad snap on a punt set up the Rattlers at the Alhambra 16-yard line, the Rattlers progressed to the five faced with a second-and-goal. Lining up behind the quarterback, Durgin did it again, taking the handoff left and into the end zone.

His fourth touchdown would follow on the Rattlers' next drive. With just over three minutes left in the first half, on another second-and-goal, this time from the six, Durgin went in motion, took the ball from quarterback Amari Harris, and scored. His fourth touchdown put the Rattlers up 42-0 before halftime.

“They [the offense] were definitely blocking well,” said Durgin, “letting me get to the edge, letting me take off and do my thing. They were really good today.”

 

Malakai Falepapalangi fights for extra yards (John Busker/AZPreps365)

In total, the Rattlers managed 291 yards on the ground against Alhambra, with 10 different players carrying the ball. However, the rushing attack was not always the game plan for coach Adam Beene and company.

“We had so much success to start the game we figured we’d stick with it,” said Beene. “We actually thought we were going to throw the ball some more going into it, but we were having so much success, so we stuck with it.”

The North Canyon defense also was a problem for Alhambra. The Rattlers spent a lot of time in the Lions’ backfield on both passing and rushing plays, making it very difficult to move the ball. One of the players making the opponent’s backfield his own was defensive end Raef Wilkins, whose one-handed sack in the second quarter depicted the pressure put on by the Rattler defense all night.

“We got pressure by making our adjustments,” said Wilkins. "During the week knowing who we should put where, good coaching teaching us how to use our hands, and just having fun.”

While he enjoyed his sack, Wilkins' favorite play of the night happened on the other side of the ball. Normally an edge rusher, the 6-foot-2-inch, 255-pound Wilkins got his chance on offense in the third quarter. On a second-and-13 from the Alhambra 21, with 5:50 on the clock, Wilkins lined up to the left of his quarterback. He took the pitch left, got around the edge, and barreled down the sideline and into the end zone for the seventh Rattler score of the game.

“This is a big man’s dream come true right there,” said Wilkins. “I scored, somehow didn’t get touched, I don’t know how.”

The final Rattler touchdown happened later in that third quarter. Running back Ivan Rodriguez, like Wilkins, would make the most of his few touches. On first-and-10 from the Alhambra 35, Rodriguez carried the ball for seven yards. He would follow that up with a 28-yard-run for a touchdown. The scoring was capped off with a fake extra-point for the two-point conversion, after the previous extra-point attempt was blocked.

Alhambra was the only team to score in the fourth quarter, but one touchdown in the final period would be far from enough to make the game close. North Canyon won its second game of the season, but coach Beene does not see it quite like that.

“Last week we talked about trying to play a three-game schedule,” said Beene, “because we know we played some of the toughest parts. We knew we’ve got some opponents that we have a great chance against, and so we tried to reset. From there on it’s just 1-0 each week.”

North Canyon will host Maryvale (0-8) next Friday in its final home game of the season, looking to finish their season strong after a rough start.