James Copeland is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Betty H. Fairfax High School for AZPreps365.com

While it was another tough loss for the Betty Fairfax Friday night, coaches seemed optimistic for future games as the effort put forth by the young team showed promise in a 41-13 loss to the Agua Fria Owls in 5A non-region action.

Coming into the game, it had been a struggle through the first three games of the season for the Stampede. Points were coming in bunches, while the offense struggled to put up points. While this game did tell the same story for the most part, the young team showed high effort and responded to adversity well.

The Owls got on the board first to begin the game as Jay’vier Cook broke free for a 65-yard run on their second drive of the game to give them a 7-0 lead.

However, the Stampede responded rather quickly as a 62-yard reception by Vincent Quadrozzi put the Stampede on the 2-yard line, setting up a touchdown run for quarterback Aiden Paredes.

This knotted the game up at 7 and at the end of the first quarter the game was still tied. It looked like it was going to be a back and forth battle between both sides. This did not turn out to be the case unfortunately for the Stampede as the offense would struggle not being able to put up points again until the fourth quarter. 

Coach Keith Mannie used the play as an example of the inconsistency the team is trying to remedy.

“That’s one of the bright spots. When the kids lock in we are a hard team to deal with. The key is just finding that consistency and doing it every single down,” he said.

As for the defense, it made as best an effort as it could to hold its own, but were no match for the Owls' passing and run attack, giving up 34-unanswered points until the fourth quarter.

The defense was not all bad, however, as the unit made multiple stops throughout the game including a goal-line stand after giving up a 22-yard gain to get the Owls on the 1. 

Defensive coordinator Martwon Weaver said the the defensive player can't let the struggles beat them down.

 “We just gotta keep fighting," he said. "A lot of times we get down and the kids get down on themselves, but we need them to really understand the game isn’t over till it’s over. We gotta keep preaching the small things and working on it in practice.”

The Stampede had several players that played well including wide receiver Vincent Quadrozzi, who had 99 receiving yards total. For the defensive side, Marcus Mackey was a huge factor making a number of big tackles and hits to stop momentum at times for the Owls.

However the player who stood out the most was senior safety and linebacker, Dual Machar Wie, who rushed for 50 yards, and also had a 4-yard rushing touchdown on the Stampede’s last drive of the game.

He also led the team in tackles with eight, and was a standout leader on both sides of the ball. 

“I just try to go hard at practice, and make plays while leaving it all on the field," he said. "We have a lot of younger guys, so us seniors need to show them how we do what we do every night, and hopefully come out with wins.” 

While they did not play their best brand of football, the Stampede did end their night on offense on a good note.

When starting Paredes came out of the game with an unfortunate injury, backup quarterback Rayshjon Raiford came in the game and led the Stampede on a long scoring drive ending with the rushing touchdown by Wie.

So there are definitely bright spots that this team has going into future games.

“We got kids that want to play hard and they want to win. They just need more reps,” Mannie said.

The Stampede will look to build on the positives next week as they take on the Sierra Linda Bulldogs at home next Friday, September 22, at 7 p.m.