Willow Canyon Preseason Overview
WILDCATS FOOTBALL | ||
2007 Schedule & Results | ||
0-0 overall / 0-0 Northwest Region | ||
8/31 | 7 p.m. | |
9/7 | 7 p.m. | |
9/14 | 7 p.m. | |
9/20 | 7 p.m. | |
9/28 | 7 p.m. | |
10/5 | 7 p.m. | |
10/12 | 7 p.m. | |
10/19 | 7 p.m. | |
10/26 | 7 p.m. | |
11/2 | 7 p.m. | |
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN |
If Willow Canyon wants to make the playoffs for the first time, the Wildcats will have to navigate a somewhat tough slate in their first season at 5A.
Here is a team-by-team breakdown of the Wildcat’s 2007 opponents (with their 2006 records):
- LaJoya (3-7): Perhaps an up-and-coming team, but won’t go anywhere this season in a tough Desert West Region that has the state’s No. 1 team (Centennial).
- Tolleson (5-7): One of the better of the non-region opponents, but it made the 2006 playoffs with a losing record.
- Ironwood Ridge (9-3): A former 4A playoff team that, like Willow Canyon, is making the jump to 5A this year. Will likely be one of Wildcats’ toughest foes all year.
- Camelback (3-7): Program has seen better days than in the recent decade.
- Carl Hayden (0-10): Somebody has to play them.
- Boulder Creek (2-8): Second-year program on the upswing. It will be the Wildcats’ first region game of the year.
- Deer Valley (6-5): Lost in a classic playoff game to Goldwater last year.
- Valley Vista (0-0): First meeting between two potential rivals.
- Kingman (1-9): Is there any way to tell if Kingman is going to go 10-0 or 0-10 from one year to the next? If there is, I can’t tell.
- Goldwater (6-6): Could the Northwest Region be decided on the final night?
Stability has Wildcats thinking playoffs
by Jason Stone
SurpriseLights.com
Aug. 31, 2007
For such a new school, Willow Canyon’s football program hasn’t had much stability. When Michael Hudnutt took over the team last year, he was already the school’s third head coach.
But Wildcats fans and players are hoping stability is here to stay as Willow Canyon enters 2007 with a good chance to challenge for a playoff sport for the first time.
After winning four games last season, including a 3-2 finish to the season, Willow Canyon believes it has turned the corner in the prep football ranks.
Hudnutt isn’t just hoping for a winning season, however. He wants it all.
“From Day 1, our goal is to win a state championship,” said Hudnutt, an Iowa native who has been on the Wildcats’ coaching staff for four years. “We have to compete against good teams, but we can do it if we do the job and work hard.”
Willow Canyon won four games last year after starting the season slow. As the Wildcats matured and learned Hudnutt’s system, more success came, leading to optimism in 2007.
