65°
YONKERS, N.Y. - Saunders football must win this week to secure a spot in the postseason, having run off four victories in its first five games.
"We are playing a good team [Spring Valley] this week, and we have to be ready to play our best game," quarterback Kristian Prenga said of his Saunders squad, which downed Yonkers High last week 28-0. "We want to use the pass and the run and play good defense."
The 4-1 Blue Devils depend on lead running back Francisco Wilson-King, who has scored 10 touchdowns in five games and had 140 yards and two scores against Yonkers. Prenga adds a passing dimension and showed it with a long touchdown pass last week.
The Blue Devils, who are waiting for their home field to be completed with a new artificial surface, will host Spring Valley at Lincoln High Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Tigers are 3-2 coming off a loss to Nyack.
The two teams have defeated common opponents, Lincoln and Gorton, so the matchup looks even. Dabney Wesley, Chris Tran, Joe Rabadi, Justin Vargas, Wilson-King, Keron Phillip, Eric Mfwodo and Nick Lugo will lead the defense, which must play well to defeat Spring Valley.
"We played the Yonkers teams [Yonkers, Lincoln and Gorton] and they are not as strong as Spring Valley," Wesley said. "This is our biggest game so far. We are getting better on defense."
Saturday's game will be determined by which team makes the fewest mistakes and plays the toughest defense. Saunders should get a win.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Yonkers and receive free news updates.
