While Corona del Sol and Marcos de Niza are close, less than 4 miles apart, the score was not as the Aztecs routed the Padres, 56-7.
It’s been eight years since the cross-town Tempe rivals last faced off, and there was no shortage of tension as the visiting (2-3) Corona del Sol Aztecs faced off with the (3-2) Marcos de Niza Padres.
The Aztecs’ offensive attack started early as the offensive line provided a clean pocket for senior quarterback Connor Ackerley to surgically pick apart the Padres’ secondary. Ackerley connected with receiver Zuri Glenn to open the scoring. The Padres, led by senior quarterback Tegan Ligouri-melendez, answered back with a touchdown of their own.
From there, it was all Aztecs.
Corona coach Jake Barro chose for a tougher, non-conference schedule in 2023 to battle-test his team before the post season, and after losing three consecutive, the Aztecs let out all their frustrations.
“Marcos is a very good team, I won’t take anything away from them,” Barro said. “But in comparison to what we have been playing, it was a little bit better for us. We could do some more things, be more explosive.
But we did play really good football tonight. Our execution rate, I’m going to venture to guess was in the 80 percent, which is really high. It was a good night and our kids took care of business.”
Ackerley and receiver Raiden Vines-Bright lit up the scoreboard, connecting for three scores, two of which in the first half. Ackerley himself was responsible for half of Corona’s scores, which included four passing and one rushing touchdown. He registered nearly 300 yards by halftime.
Barro said the point of emphasis for his team this week was defense, and the defense stepped up. They created pressure and produced points of their own as Brandon Holmes returned a tip-drill interception for six. Holmes said the rivalry means a lot to the community the defense fed off the energy from the Aztec faithful who were in attendance.
“It was a big deal for us,” Ackerley said of the significance of the rivalry and environment. “Coming off that gauntlet of a schedule, to get back to what we know we can do and put up a lot of points today and put up a lot of stops; it felt good.”
The Aztecs’ put up a season-high 56 against the formidable Tempe rival before heading into their bye week. The Aztecs will start sectional play when they travel to Tucson to face Salpointe Catholic Oct. 6.
