The last easy Sedona Red Rock High School football game of the fall was played Friday, Oct. 16.

After a 27-6 win at Tuba City High School that head coach John Bradshaw said was not as close as the score suggested, a game at Monument Valley High School — one of just three remaining undefeated teams in Division V — stands between the Scorpions and history.

“The whole team understands what we’re playing for,” said Bradshaw, whose team went up 21-0 against the Warriors before heavy rains reduced the final three quarters of the game to a 6-6 slog. “There are a lot of firsts that can happen, a lot of things Sedona has never done. This is probably one of the biggest games Sedona’s seen in a long time.”

At stake Friday, Oct. 23, are achievements unparalleled in SRRHS football: Knocking off the No. 3 team in the Arizona Interscholastic Association divisional power rankings, plus at least a share of a Section VII title and a tie for the record for most wins in any single season for the Scorpions [6-2].

Not to mention a playoff berth, accomplishment enough for any first-year head coach.

“We’ve got almost the entire team back — 27 players all ready going into game nine, which is a record in itself,” said Bradshaw, who held Tuba City to its lowest point total of the season despite playing most of the game without three of his five every-down players, including senior left guard Tim Hall, who will miss Oct. 23 after being ejected at Tuba City for retaliation to a facemask. “It looked really scary for a while. We play a real young line. When they execute, some plays look awesome. When they don’t, some plays you don’t even know if you have a line.

“One of the things I’m proud of, actually, is that with as many things that go against us, for everyone to get together, buckle down and come out victorious, I’ve got nothing to complain about.”

Junior Jake Christensen, another two-way player who did not travel with the team last week due to grades, will need to step up and “be the new captain going forward” for the linemen in Hall’s absence, Bradshaw said.

For the full story and standings, please see the Wednesday, Oct. 21, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.