Ty Boren is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism assigned to cover Poston Butte for AZPreps365.com 

In a geographically close matchup, Poston Butte will host Apache Junction on Homecoming night Friday, marking its final home game of the season.

The Broncos, eager to bounce back after a bye week, will celebrate their seniors before the game, adding emotional weight to the occasion.

Poston Butte (2-5) is coming off a bye week and is eager to get back on the turf. Meanwhile Apache Junction (1-6) is coming off a loss and is looking to get back into the win column on Friday.

The Broncos will be celebrating their seniors before the game as it will be their final time playing on the field of Poston Butte.

A common theme between these two squads is that both can effectively run the football.

Apache Junction’s senior quarterback Aiden Deleon is ranked first for both passing and rushing in the 4A East Skyline conference. Deleon is averaging an impressive 97 rushing yards per game, as well as 176 passing yards per game on top of that.

Broncos head coach Dain Thompson acknowledged Deleon’s skill, but he said his team is not focused on that coming into Friday’s game.

“We know he’s a really great athlete, but we’re just going to focus on ourselves,” said Thompson. “It’s all about us executing our assignments and doing what we’re supposed to do, that’s the main focus.”

Another big part of Apache Junction’s run game is senior Emmit Harvey, Harvey is ranked ninth in the conference for rushing and is averaging 60 yards per game.

Poston Butte’s senior quarterback Mason Lloyd is coming off his best game of the season against undefeated Snowflake team two weeks ago.

Lloyd threw for 168 passing yards and had two touchdowns to show for it.

Lloyd said his team made some changes to the passing game going into last game and they worked out well.

“Instead of sitting in the pocket, we did a lot of roll out passes, which allowed our offense to flow together better,” said Lloyd.

Lloyd also spoke about the upcoming game being his and many of his teammates last game on home turf as a Bronco.

“There’s been a lot of nostalgia recently,” said Lloyd. “The other day I went and watched the freshmen practice and it felt surreal, it’s crazy but it’s exciting.”

With four of the top ten rushers in the 4A East Sky Region being on the Broncos they have a lot of running power to bring to the table.

Broncos senior running back group Evan Moore, Easton Filetti and Jaylen Brooks each average more than 65 rushing yards each game.

“We all practice really hard and get great rotations in,” said Filetti. “Our linemen are also improving like crazy, we’ve been getting a lot of open gaps recently.”

Felitti also said that Poston Butte’s game plan coming into the season was to be a strong running team

Moore and Filetti are ranked fourth and fifth in the conference for rushing, while Brooks is sitting at the seven spot.

Poston Butte has defeated Apache Junction the past five straight seasons and is looking to make it six.