Jakob Brooks is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Skyline High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX:  The Skyline Coyotes suffered a disappointing end to a disappointing season Friday night, falling to the Sunnyslope Vikings 35-14.

Despite already being eliminated from playoff contention, Skyline football had a chip on its shoulder heading into this game. 

The Coyotes and the Vikings have had a brewing rivalry over the past few years that includes Skyline losing to Sunnyslope in close high-scoring matchups in both of their last two meetings.

“We knew it was gonna be a battle. … This was a game we’ve been waiting for," Skyline head coach Adam Shiermyer said. "[Timmy Bancraft] and I talked about this game over the summer and during camp.”

The Skyline players took the loss hard.

“It just sucks,” said senior quarterback Jake Ryne-Goins, who was fighting back tears after the loss.

"Us just coming up short, it’s hard," Bancraft, a senior wide receiver said. "Especially after what happened the past two years and losing to these guys three years in a row.”

There were two key things that hindered the Coyotes Friday. The first was turnovers. Skyline had four fumbles in the game, and let Sunnyslope recover three of them.

“We kept going backwards, we just had mess-ups, a snap would go over my head, a bad handoff, something would just always go wrong when we were in a good spot,” Ryne-Goins said.

The second thing the Coyotes struggled with was stopping the run. The Vikings pounded the ground all night, and Sunnyslope running back Aleck Vargas shined with 110 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

“I didn’t expect them to come out and run the ball as much as they did. They had a good game plan, we just gave up too much on the ground,” a disgruntled Schiermyer said.

On the offensive end, the Coyotes got one last hurrah from two of their top seniors.

Ryne-Goins and Bancraft connected on a huge 63 yard touchdown in the third quarter for Skyline’s first points of the night, igniting the Skyline crowd. Ryne-Goins also poured in 57 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground, and Bancraft ended the night with a team-leading 145 receiving yards.

“I knew he [Bancraft] was ready, and it showed by the way he practiced all week, preparing and watching film, and he had a great game,”  Schiermyer said.

“That’s how I play every game," Bancraft said. "That’s how I go into every game, just trying to put everything out there."

Ryan-Goins and Bancraft weren’t the only Coyotes playing with heart. Junior strong safety Shawn Saxon blocked a punt and senior wide receiver Zavier Flores hauled in multiple fourth-quarter catches despite sustaining an injury. 

“It just sucks that we came up short, but our kids were resilient, bounced back, fought until the end, and I’m proud of the way they finished. … That’s just the life of these seniors. Man, they’re resilient, they don’t give up,” a noticeably proud Schiermyer said.

That resilience is an attitude Skyline will look to carry into next season, a season in which the Coyotes will have a new look without a lot of their key seniors. A long offseason now awaits the Coyotes, as they look forward to trying to improve upon this year’s 3-7 season.