SALT LAKE CITY –Arizona vs No. 10 Utah is set for a late kick tonight in Utah’s Homecoming Game and Dark Mode theme.

The Wildcats come into this one off of a bye, looking to get their first Big 12 Conference win. Meanwhile, Utah is looking to stay unblemished and will be looking to avenge last year’s performance against Arizona.

Utah vs Oklahoma State is just hours away from kickoff in Stillwater. Both teams are battling to improve to 4-0 on the season and gain a significant advantage in the Big 12 Conference race.

Here are some final thoughts on the game and a score prediction on the game.

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐓 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 ⚫️ #DarkMode pic.twitter.com/pT82P8NmSg

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) September 28, 2024

Arizona vs Utah

Game Info

Location: Rice Eccles Stadium

TV: ESPN

Rado: AM 700

Records: No. 10 Utah, 4-0, 1-0; Arizona 2-1

Last Week: Utah def. Oklahoma State State, 22-10; Arizona bye

Three Game Day Thoughts

1. Night game at Rice-Eccles Stadium 

Utah has really leaned into the Dark Mode theme this season. As they should. There is something truly extraordinary about Rice-Eccles at night.

“I don’t know (what it is) but there is something magical about Rice-Eccles and night games,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said in last week’s press conference.

The atmosphere in the stadium tonight should be pretty electric. It’s been a while since the last home game at night for the Utes, there weren’t any last season.

Utah Football Vs. Arizona Fan Guide: TV Info, What To Wear, Top Storylines

Utah is also coming off of a rather momentous road victory at Oklahoma State, a rather ideal scenario for homecoming week. This weekend has featured the throwback uniforms, which now have the all black set to match the Dark Mode theme as well.

There is certainly a lot of excitement for this game, defensive tackle Junior Tafuna summed it up best earlier this week.

“Rice-Eccles is always louder after dark,” he said. “Rice-Eccles is going to be popping, it’s going to be loud and I’m excited, we’re all excited.”

2. A chance to go 5-0 with all the context around the start of this season

Utah football has a chance to do something significant this weekend in the Big 12 Conference.

But first, consider that Utah has seen their star quarterback in four quarters of action this season.

Not only that, but they lost their No. 2 cornerback within the first couple series of the season. Then their veteran defensive leader and top pass rusher have each missed the last two games.

Going to be some big time visitors this weekend! May even be a couple of late additions to the list. #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/RTseeVDHc3

— Steve Bartle (@BartleKSLsports) September 26, 2024

Yet, Utah has an opportunity tonight night to improve to 5-0 and solidify their standing atop the Big 12. Something many only considered possible if Cam Rising were healthy, let alone Kenan Johnson, Karene Reid, and Connor O’Toole.

Regardless of what happens tonight, Utah has positioned themselves favorably with their best ball ahead of them.

3. Curious to hear about the new concessions process

The fan experience is an important dynamic in football games. In the previous two home games, the experience was less than ideal.

Due to significant concourse congestion issues, Utah Athletics and Rice-Eccles Stadium have changed the process around their concessions.

These issues have centered around empty soda cups at purchase and long lines at refill stations, which exacerbated long-time congestion issues.

Utah fans will now be provided a full soda cup at initial purchase. That eliminates the primary issue of needing to wait in an additional line to fill up the cup with soda, whether initially or as a refill. Additional soda machines have been installed to help speed up the entire process for fans as well.

Curious to hear how much these changes help the fan experience tonight.

Two Arizona vs Utah Questions

1. How does Utah defend Tetairoa McMillan?

The Wildcats have one of the top receivers in the country. He’s averaging over 150 yards per game as the focal point of their passing attack. He’s the sort of talent that demands special attention.

At the same time, Arizona hasn’t gotten much out of their other pass catchers. Kansas State beat Arizona pretty handily by making it tough on McMillan but more importantly, limiting the production of others.

How Utah defends McMillan and the rest of the passing attack is something that I’ll be very interested in tonight.

2. What improvements does the Utah offense make?

The run game has really come on strong the past two weeks with the emergence of Micah Bernard as RB1.

Dorian Singer (161 yards), Brant Kuithe (142), and Money Parks (84) have been pretty productive in the passing game as well.

Utah is 4-0 but has only enjoyed stretches of highly potent offensive output.

The offense has lost the turnover battle in two games and it’s struggled to convert efficiently on 3rd downs this season.

There is plenty for the offense to clean up. There is also another level they can get to with their execution.

Utah needs to show offensive progress tonight, exactly what sort of progress will be interesting to see.

Score Prediction for Arizona vs Utah

The Utes will certainly be motivated for this one for several reasons. The defense needs another strong performance, while the offense needs to play make improvement. The home crowd also needs to play a big role tonight for Utah.

Given Arizona is coming off of a bye, they’ll be fresh and extra prepared for this one as well. That makes this one a competitive game. Still, Utah gets it down and goes into their bye week unblemished.

Utah 30, Arizona 24

Utah Football’s Remaining 2024 Schedule

• Utah Football vs. Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, September 28
• Utah Football @ Arizona State Sun Devils on Friday, October 11
• Utah Football vs. TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday, October 19
• Utah Football @ Houston Cougars on Saturday, October 26
• Utah Football vs. BYU Cougars on Saturday, November, 9
• Utah Football @ Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday, November 16
• Utah Football vs. Iowa State Cyclones on Saturday, November 23
• Utah Football @ UCF Knights on Friday, November 29

Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.

Take us with you, wherever you go.

Download the new & improved KSL Sports app from Utah’s sports leader. You can stream live radio, video and stay up to date on all of your favorite teams.‘

Here is a roundup of key high school football games covered by The Arizona Republic’s sports staff on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.

Brophy routs Notre Dame in battle of unbeatens

By Mohana Holloway

A shutout game between two 4-0 teams saw the 6A Brophy Broncos top the 5A Notre Dame Prep Saints and further establish themselves as top contender for the Open Division playoff with a 40-0 win. 

Key plays 

Brophy first found the scoreboard with a rushing touchdown by quarterback Case Vanden Bosch. At 7:55, Brophy linebacker Dominic Woods earned a safety to make the score 9-0.

A 61-yard run by wide receiver Devin Fitzgerald brought the Broncos up to the 15-yard line. Vanden Bosch, behind the help from his O-line, struck again with a second rushing touchdown just before the end of the first quarter with the score 16-0 Brophy.

The second quarter started with yet another Broncos touchdown – a 35-yard run by running back Harrison Chambers. Two minutes later, Brophy running back Carlos Estrada scored again, to widen the lead to 30-0. Once again, with the help of the Broncos’ offensive line, Vanden Bosch struck once more, with a successful pass to wide receiver Fitzgerald, who ran for a 29-yard touchdown. The quarter ended Broncos 37,- Saints 0.  

The Saints showed a brief sign of life two-thirds of the way through the third quarter with an interception by Dylan Lavinia. Nothing came of it, though, and a running clock commenced. Brophy scored once again, capping off the game with a 30-yard field goal by kicker Ryder Hampton.  

Key players 

Broncos QB Case Vanden Bosch: Accounted for five TDs total rushing and passing; Broncos WR Devin Fitzgerald: 1 TD; Broncos RB Carlos Estrada: 1 TD 

Quotes: 

“We have weapons on the outside… but it really comes to our offensive line though. They’re paving the way for what we really want to accomplish. Not just for the offense, but it’s for the rest of the team.” – Brophy Prep Broncos Head Coach Jason Jewell 

“We have the best O-line in the state, and I can just rely on them and my receivers to make it easy for me.” – Brophy Prep Broncos Quarterback Case Vanden Bosch 

“If it wasn’t for the O-line, we wouldn’t be 5-0 right now. Their ability to protect the quarterback, and influence a great run game, makes our receivers and running backs thrive.” – Brophy Prep Broncos Running Back Carlos Estrada  

Next up: 

Brophy (5-0) will take on Basha (4-1) on Oct. 4, in a battle of top 6A teams. Notre Dame (4-1) has a bye week then will host the Horizon Huskies (4-1) on Oct. 11.  

Horizon offense rolls in win over Millennium

By Howard Schlossberg

Horizon is doing just fine, thank you. 

Rebounding nicely from what could’ve been a hangover defeat, the Huskies piled up 457 yards of total offense and scored a 38-8 win Friday night over visiting Millennium, moving to 4-1 in the process.

Head coach Tyson Ditmore admitted he had a slight twinge inside over how his team might respond after last week’s difficult loss to Pinnacle, but his Huskies laid that to rest immediately and authoritatively. On their first possession, they held the ball almost six minutes and ran 15 plays before Johnny Issitt bolted over from 3 yards out and Ryker Floyd put the exclamation point on it with a 2-point conversion run.

The rout was on.

Key plays

Issitt paced the thumping, gaining 155 yards, but everyone pitched in, especially the defense. Millennium only snapped the ball on Horizon’s side of the 50 once in the first half, so dominant was the Huskies D. And that snap, early in the second quarter, resulted in a Colton Becker leaping interception of a Donovan DeLong pass into the end zone.

Two plays later, Horizon was on the board again, this time on speedy Adam Wagner’s catch and run of 80 yards of a Jase Ashley perfectly tossed easy post.

Was there anything Horizon would do wrong? Not really. It was 21-0 by halftime as Floyd added two field goals, easily hitting from 30 and 32, the latter as time expired in the second quarter.

The second half was a carbon copy, except throw in Issitt’s 56-yard dash for a score. Millennium finally scored on Isaiah Whitfield’s 59-yard dash in the closing minute against Horizon’s No. 2 defense. 

Key players

Issitt was the standout, with 155 yards on 18 carries. Ashley threw for 193 more on 12 of 23, including the TD to Wagner. Jordan Partridge, had 52 yards on five carries and two receptions for 20 more. Horizon’s defense chased alternating quarterbacks for Millennium all over, recording 10 tackles for loss and limiting the Tigers to 131 total yards, 59 on Whitfield’s late TD run.

Key quotes

“I’m really pleased with how we played, how the defense played,” Ditmore said. “We need to continue to get healthy,” and clean up the 11 penalties for 105 yards. He also noted the team has a ”gauntlet” of a schedule after next week’s bye.

Up next

Horizon is at Notre Dame on Oct. 11 after next week’s bye. Millennium is home to Desert Edge next Friday. 

Mountain Pointe defeats Cesar Chavez in chippy contest

By Anthony Perez

Laveen Cesar Chavez came into Friday night’s Week 5 contest looking for a signature win against a Phoenix Mountain Pointe program that’s become a rival of sorts to them. Mountain Pointe though was ready to make a statement and they certainly did, picking up 13 points off of turnovers in the first quarter en route to a comfortable 43-13 home win that proved to be a chippy, penalty-filled game. 

Key plays

With Cesar Chavez moving down the field on its opening drive of the game, Mountain Pointe set the tone for the night when junior linebacker Jaylyn Colter picked off a pass around midfield, he took it back the other way for the touchdown to give his team an early 7-0 lead and the early momentum, both of which it would not give up the rest of the night.

Key players

Mountain Pointe never surrendered the lead and momentum in large part to Jamarlon “Bobo” Otis. The senior running back had an impressive game, scoring four touchdowns, including a 54-yard run early in the second quarter that gave his team a comfortable 19-0 cushion. 

Cesar Chavez’ biggest attempt to get back into the game came with 8:09 left in the first half when sophomore quarterback Mason Penrod had a one-yard run into the end zone to cut the Mountain Pointe lead to 19-7. 

Key quote

“We started out rocky the first couple of games but we just had to get it right to make the plays that can work for me and that’s really it.” – Bobo Otis on his progression over the first half of the season 

Next up

Cesar Chavez (3-2) hosts Mesa Desert Ridge next Thursday, while Mountain Pointe (4-1) visits American Leadership Academy-Queen Creek next Friday. 

Arizona College Prep downs Yuma Catholic

By Jackson Shaw

Summary

Arizona College Prep receiver Ashton Sanchez caught three touchdowns and led the Knights to a 43-29 win at home against the Yuma Catholic Shamrocks Friday.

Key Plays

On fourth down of the Knights’ opening possession, Evan Heinrich found Sanchez down the middle to put ACP up early. 

Alec Grant broke free for a big gain that set the Knights up at the one-yard line, then finished off the drive with a touchdown. Knights went up 14-0 in the first. Nash Ott got things going early in the second for the Shamrocks with a 26-yard pass placed right in the arms of WR Sir Stokes in the end zone. 

With three minutes to play in the half, Yuma’s Hunter Hancock returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Then Max Sasso decided he wanted in on the fun and did the exact same thing on the very next kickoff for the Knights. 99-yard house call.

Sanchez caught his second touchdown of the night to end the half off a perfect ball from Ott. The halftime score read 36-14.

A huge connection from Ott to Sir Stokes set up the Shamrocks at the four-yard line, which Rocky Stallworth turned into a touchdown on a short pass. 

But Ashton Sanchez was not done yet. He caught a short pass from Heinrich and took it 43 yards to the end zone for his third touchdown of the day.

The Shamrocks would find the end zone one last time off of a 20-yard throw to Stokes once again.  

Key Players

Ashton Sanchez was huge for the ACP Knights, finding the end zone three times. Evan Heinrich connected on big throws deep all game and rushed in a touchdown to add to his two through the air. 

Despite the loss, Sir Stokes caught two touchdown passes on the night for the Shamrocks, his second and third for the year. 

Quotes

“Our players were extremely motivated. [Yuma] got us in a close game down at their place last year, so some of our message was kind of getting revenge from last year’s game.” – ACP head coach Steve Vaught

“The mindset was honestly just to dominate. Not let their name get to us. They’re a great team, obviously, but we just wanted to play a hard game, do our thing. We worked hard in practice all week long and that translated to the game.” – ACP receiver Ashton Sanchez

Next Up

AZC Prep will travel to Vista Grandebfor a region matchup next Friday (Oct. 3). Yuma Catholic also has its first region game when they host St. Mary’s.

YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — The bust of a human smuggling ring based in Yuma has resulted in 18 indictments, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said on Friday.

The suspects are allegedly part of the organization named La Mesa, which worked on behalf of the Mexican crime organization Los Rusos.

Investigators say the group is responsible for smuggling, or trying to smuggle, hundreds of people across the U.S.-Mexico border and further into the U.S.

Twenty-four-year-old Carlos Moreno-Serrano from Yuma was the leader of Le Mesa, prosecutors said.

Other alleged members coordinated the smuggling runs, scouted for drivers, ran stash houses, distributed the money for the drivers, rented cars and ran enforcement for La Mesa.

Detectives said as drivers got arrested, members started to take smaller groups of illegal immigrants to Southern and central California to avoid law enforcement.

Leaders in La Mesa would kidnap, threaten and beat up members and drivers who had been arrested.

The 18 suspects were federally charged with conspiracy to harbor illegal aliens, harboring illegal aliens for profit and conspiracy to transport illegal aliens. They are:

1. Victor Eduardo Araiza-Ponce, 24, of Yuma;
2. Antonio Aparicio III, 24, of Somerton;
3. Alonzo Esparza, 27, of Yuma;
4. Carlos Moreno-Serrano, 24, of Yuma;
5. Xasiel Noriega-Gonzalez, 21, of Somerton;
6. Joshua Guillermo Leon-Fuentes, 21, of Somerton;
7. Angel Rodriguez, 23, of Yuma;
8. Crystobal Figueroa, 23, of Somerton;
9. Saul Ponce Jr., 23, of San Luis;
10. David Leon-Pallanes, 23, of Yuma;
11. Manuel Uriel Alvarado, 26, of Yuma;
12. Elian Lopez, 24, of Yuma;
13. Raymundo Delgado-Diaz, 35, of Yuma;
14. Isreal Zeveda, 23, of Salinas, California;
15. Francisco Javier Esparza-Macias, 21, of Somerton;
16. Alex Chiquete, 25, of Yuma;
17. Hector Eduardo-Valdez, 31, of Yuma; and
18. Jose Gabriel Marquez-Mendiola, 32, of Yuma.

The maximum penalty for each charge is up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.

Copyright 2024 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.