The Millennium Tigers face their toughest task of the season Friday night as they clash with the second-ranked Centennial Coyotes in a Division II, Section I matchup in Peoria. The 16th-ranked Tigers look to build off their 30-14 home victory over Betty Fairfax in the season opener last week. Millennium, however, has never beat Centennial in three all-time meetings. The Coyotes cruised to a 44-0 win last year in Goodyear and have outscored the Tigers, 143-17, in the series.

Centennial head coach Richard Taylor said his team will not look past the Tigers. It’s “an important characteristic of a successful team is that they take care of the business at hand, not future business. We talk about this weekly. Millennium is a very good team. There will not be a problem motivating our players for them.”

The Coyotes knocked off Kellis 48-13 to open the season last week. Centennial is currently ranked eighth in the state and second in Division II, according to Maxpreps. When asked about the current rankings, Taylor said “we are very proud that someone would think of us that highly. However, it is much more important what we are ranked at the end of the season.”

Centennial senior quarterback Trevon Grant, who transferred back to Centennial from North Canyon, was solid in his Coyotes debut. After a slow start against Kellis, the 6-foot-3 senior finished 7-of-15 for 178 yards and two touchdowns, but had three would-be scores dropped by receivers that would have added over 160 yards to his totals. Asked how he expected his team to start this week, Taylor said they “hope to get off to a fast start every week.....especially against Millennium, I believe that it’s important that we get that fast start.”

Kickoff Friday night is set for 7pm.

By Thomas Jenkins