Mason Byers
Staff Writer
The Marana Tigers have three certainties for their flag football team, great defense, electric scoring, and most importantly, winning.
Marana took their first loss of the season against undefeated Basha on Tuesday 21-20 and they knew they had to bounce back. They defeated Arizona College Prep 17-0 on Thursday, a win that the head coach of the team, Shaun Lara, knew they had to get.
“Arizona College Prep is a great team, looking at the games they’ve played they’ve been putting up a lot of points on a lot of people,” Lara said. “This was a big statement for us because we are coming off that one-point loss to a great Basha team.”
The Tigers could only get a little going in the first half on offense as they only could put together one scoring drive. Marana marched down the field late in the half and it was capped off with a 24-yard field goal by junior Peyton Sharp.
However, their defense held their own multiple times throughout the game. They held the Knights to zero points and it marked their third time shutting out their opponents this season.
The great defense for the Tigers was led by senior rusher, Nami Singer who ended up finishing the game with three sacks. She was proud of the way her defense came out to play against the Knights.
“Our defense is usually pretty aggressive, but this game their offense was also aggressive,” Singer said. “So we just needed to match their energy, and I think we did just that.”
Due to the defense being so dominant, it was only a matter of time until the Tiger’s offense became aggressive of their own and put up more points.
Late in the fourth quarter, it seemed like the Tiger's offense came to life. With less than four minutes to play in the game, senior quarterback Ella Joplin connected with junior wide receiver Malaysia Roebuck for a 20-yard touchdown.
Then on the very next drive, Joplin connected with Roebuck once again, this time for a 15-yard touchdown to ice the game. Roebuck, who is considered one of the leaders for Marana, is always bringing the energy to her team.
“You just have to keep your attitude up, your vibe up,” Roebuck said. “If your energy is down, the whole team is down and we’re gonna lose every game.”
It was a great bounce-back performance and win for a Marana team. The team has their eyes set on a 6A championship run after falling to Mountain Ridge last season after a 13-game winning streak. The Tigers go on a two-week break now, but Lara knows his team will be ready for when they come back.
“These girls are athletes, and they want to ball out,” Lara said. “It’s not gonna be hard to get them ready.”
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