Arcadia High allowed only 11 yards on Apollo’s first couple drives.

That's the closest the the Titans came in a 49-0 homecoming loss Friday.

Apollo scored on its third drive of the game with a 32-yard scamper from Ali Mohamed and was off to the races.

Gus Arndt, a defensive captain for the Titans, said, “We showed a lot of effort defensively on the first couple drives but they kept beating us in the trenches and you can’t win a game that way.”

Apollo controlledthe line of scrimmage as Mohamed ran for two more of his four touchdowns and Frank Sanchez threw 27 yards for a score before the end of the first half.

Luke Ashworth, a captain for the Titans, said, “Not getting a push on the line hurt us but they’re all better than that so they’ll bounce back next week.”

The Titans got into the red zone on their first drive of the second half but a dropped touchdown pass kept them from putting points on the scoreboard.

Arcadia visited the red zone two more times in the third quarter but turned the ball over on downs each trip.

“I think dropped passes hurt our momentum a lot. Penalties and dropped balls slowed us down the whole game,” said Ashworth.

Arcadia coach Tony Stillings said, “For the most part, our defense played well. They played really well early in the game. Unfortunately, some offensive mistakes kept them on the field a lot longer than we would’ve liked.”

Dropped balls and penalties continued to plague the Arcadia offense throughout the second half.

“Penalties and dropped balls were the issue this game,'' said Stillings. "The offense was doing well and we’d get a good drive going downfield and then all of a sudden we’d have twenty yards to try and get a first down because of little mistakes. Little mistakes like dropping open passes and penalties kept us off the board.”

Arcadia, winless this season, continues to impress Stillings with perseverance.

“Our record obviously isn’t the best right now and I praise them for how they’re handling it. This has been a season of adversity. Nobody is turning on each other and they keep playing for the guy next to them. It’s really easy for a teenager to blame the person next to them but they own up to their mistakes and continue to build on the positives,” said Stillings.

Regional play begins for the Titans as they take on Paradise Valley Thursday.