#7 Thatcher Throttles #14 ALA Ironwood 33-6 to Kick Off 2026 AZHSFB Season

The 2026 season kicked off with Thatcher proving the doubters wrong.

On Thursday night, the Thatcher Eagles routed the ALA Ironwood Warriors 33-6.

While Thatcher is always a great team in 3A, there were a lot of questions surrounding this Eagles team as they graduated a lot of impactful seniors last season.

Thatcher head coach Daniel Jones noted that there were a lot of kids who played their very first varsity snaps in this game, and that he was joyful about the outcome.

“Almost every single one of them, this was their first varsity experience,” Jones said. “I wanted to see who we were and I was pleasantly surprised.”

The Eagles came out of the gate looking like the better team as indicated on the opening kickoff return.

Thatcher 2027 athlete Tufden Taylor returned the kickoff all the way back for a touchdown to open the game.

There ended up being a flag on the play against Thatcher, but the Eagles still started with the ball at the ALA Ironwood 45-yard line.

Wasting no time, the Eagles made the most of the great field position.

Scoring the first touchdown of the high school season was 2027 running back Ethan Hayes, who punched it up the middle for a 1-yard score.

On the other sideline, the Warriors ended up having prime field position in the middle of the first quarter to match the score.

After a quick three-and-out, the Warriors punted the ball, but Thatcher would end up muffing the punt, and it was recovered by ALA Ironwood 2027 linebacker Hayden Jones.

Starting with the ball in the red zone was a golden opportunity for ALA Ironwood to put points on the board, but they fell short after turning the ball over on downs.

Fast forward to late in the first quarter both teams had to get the early-season jitters out of the way.

ALA Ironwood 2027 athlete Rylon Bradford would make one of the best plays of the night for his team as he got the ball back for his team after snagging an interception.

The ball wouldn’t stay in the Warriors' possession for long, though, as the Eagles got the ball right back.

2027 athlete Josh Jones tracked down an interception to give his team back the possession.

With around three minutes left in the first quarter, Thatcher extended its lead.

Continuing to have a great game was Taylor, as he scampered for a 43-yard touchdown that he made look easy.

Taylor credited the great blocking by the Eagles as the reason he was able to score the longest touchdown of the night.

“I like my linemen; my linemen blocked so well,” Taylor said. “Everyone blocked so perfectly; it was all them really. I just jogged in.”

At the end of one quarter, Thatcher led 13-0.

During the second quarter, the rushing attack by the Eagles kept going strong.

Opening up the quarter, 2028 running back Jax Shupe was able to get a touchdown of his own as he ran in a 5-yard touchdown.

The next drive for Thatcher saw their signal-caller call his own number for the touchdown.

After getting down the field efficiently again,2028 quarterback Kase Palmer ran a bootleg and was able to hit the outside to score a 13-yard touchdown.

The first four touchdowns of the game for Thatcher were all scored on the ground by four different players.

Daniel Jones said his running back group is like a bunch of pitbulls running around the field.

“We have a lot of little runners; they’re just pitbulls,” Jones said. “They fight for every yard, they represent Thatcher, and they did a great job tonight.”

Not only was the ground game a big factor in securing the win, but so was the defense.

If the first half couldn’t have gone any better for the Eagles, they closed out the half by getting another turnover.

Thatcher 2027 defensive back Brig Romney was able to come down with an interception to close the first half on a strong note.

At the end of the first half, Thatcher led 26-0.

The entirety of the third quarter saw both teams not getting much going on offense.

It would end up taking until the fourth quarter for the Warriors to put points on the board.

Early in the fourth, the Warriors compiled their best drive of the night and capped it off by giving 2028 running back Caiden Golden the ball at the goal line.

Golden pushed his way forward in the middle of the field to score a 1-yard touchdown.

Later in the quarter, Thatcher put the final nail in the coffin.

The final touchdown of the game was Palmer hitting 2027 running back Teagan Damron on a short pass for a 13-yard touchdown.

Thatcher would go on to win 33-6 and stamp a strong opening to the new season.

The Eagles had many new faces hit the gridiron in game one, but they proved they belong on the field after the win.

Winning dominantly in week one is nothing to shy away from, but Josh Jones states the team can’t dwell too much on the win and get ready for week 2.

“Don’t dwell too fast on the wins,” Jones said. “It’s a great way to build confidence. Just keep building from here; keep going.”

Next up: 1-0 Thatcher looks to build off a strong Week 1 as they take on Apache Junction. 0-1 ALA Ironwood looks to get their first win of the season when they take on #4 Pusch Ridge.