With a huge region game against Arcadia looming next week, this week's game against Tempe could have been a trap for Queen Creek.
The Bulldogs made sure that would not be the case, erupting for all 38 of their points in the first half en route to a 38-0 drubbing of the Buffaloes at Queen Creek.
"That's a nice thing about our kids," Queen Creek coach Curt LeBlanc said of staying focused on Tempe. "That's not an issue."
The Bulldogs' defense completely dominated the first half, holding Tempe to minus-12 yards of offense and forcing three turnovers. Tempe's only first down came as the result of a Queen Creek penalty for running into the punter.
"We came out fired up," LeBlanc said.
The only issue that remained for Queen Creek after halftime was whether the Bulldogs would pitch the shutout. Thanks to a pair of red zone interceptions, Queen Creek's shutout was kept intact.
In addition to a stifling defense, the Bulldogs' offense was clicking both on the ground and in the air. Queen Creek ran for 107 first half yards and passed for 108.
"At this point we are not relying on just one or two kids," LeBlanc said. "We have a lot of kids sharing the wealth."
That point was illustrated by the balanced Queen Creek scoring as five different Bulldogs scored touchdowns.
John Reed started the scoring with a 4-yard run, followed by touchdown runs by David Hollis, Cameron Nelson and Jose Delgadillo.
Queen Creek quarterback Dayton Jones found Jesse Hanna for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 24 seconds remaining in the first half to end the scoring.
Hanna grabbed four passes for 75 yards, all of which came in traffic, and drew praise from LeBlanc.
"We talked this summer about being tough," LeBlanc said of Hanna.
Queen Creek improved to 5-2 while Tempe dropped to 1-6.
