The Horizon High School Huskies defeated the Paradise Valley Trojans at Horizon on Friday,  32-22. This is Horizon’s first home win of the year.

 

The Huskies utilized the rushing game to secure the victory, while the Trojans relied heavily on the pass. Horizon quarterback Isaac Enriquez carried for a first down eight times on the night, and the Huskies had three rushing touchdowns.

                 

                  Paradise Valley struck on its first drive on a rushing touchdown from Kyle Krautstrunk, but failed to score again until a field goal wrapped up the first half, 18-9. Six Paradise Valley drives separated the two scores.

 

                  Horizon’s first half was highlighted by the rushing performances of Enriquez and the dual backs, Chris Grillo and Nash Giffin. The trio posted 86 yards on 3.9 yards per carry in the first 24 minutes, as well as a rushing touchdown. Enriquez also threw for nine receptions on 15 tries, including a touchdown to Jay Rudolph.

 

                  Horizon used defense to seal the game in the second half, thanks in no small part to free safety Dylan Sorrell. He tallied a red zone interception and a fumble recovery in the second half, on top of several open field tackles.

 

                  “We said we were going show [the quarterback] how we play defense, and that’s exactly what we did,” Sorrell said. “We had some hiccups, they got a couple long plays in the first half, but our defense is relentless, we’re never going stop coming at you.”

 

Despite the loss, Paradise Valley head coach Greg Davis had nothing but praise for his team.

 

“Our guys just battle. Eye test says they should have beat us pretty good, but our kids work hard and that’s ultimately what we take away from every game,” Davis said. “We controlled what we can control, we played good football, I’m proud of our guys tonight. Sometimes you just come up on the short end of the stick.”

 

Paradise Valley quarterback Ben Finley found receivers for long gains several times against the Horizon defense, but threw two interceptions in his performance. Finley experienced a scary moment in the third quarter when he had trouble getting up after a sack by Horizon’s Ryan Alsup.

 

“That’s a scary deal, I thought it was probably just a stinger so I felt alright about it,” said Trojans coach Greg Davis. Offensive lineman Max Trapp played quarterback for a single snap, and Finley returned to throw a touchdown to running back Kevin Lutz.

 

“I knew I had to get back to my team, there was no one behind me so I had to step back up,” Finley said. “It was just a stinger in my right shoulder, it definitely hurt a little bit.”

 

The Huskies move ahead of PV in the 5A Northeast Valley standings with the win, bringing Horizon’s record to 5-4 overall, and 4-1 in the region. Paradise Valley stands at 6-3 overall, but only 3-2 in the conference.

 

Horizon will take on Desert Mountain at home next week, while Paradise Valley's next game is against undefeated Notre Dame Prep.