AWC vies for another unbeaten season

Matadors host Scottsdale today with national championship return on line

The No. 2 Arizona Western football team is 60 minutes away from backto-back undefeated regular seasons and a likely return to the NJCAA National Championship.

No. 19 Scottsdale, fresh off three straight losses that derailed a 6-0 start to the season, heads to Yuma for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Veterans Memorial Stadium with the chance to spoil the Matadors’ hopes at a national title.

The Artichokes (6-3 overall, 3-3 Western States Football League) reached as high as No. 8 in the national polls when they were 6-0 on Oct. 10. But since then, they’ve lost by 13 to Eastern Arizona and Mesa before suffering a three-point loss last week against Snow.

The Matadors (8-0, 6-0 WSFL), meanwhile, are on an opposite trajectory. They had shaky midseason wins against Phoenix and Pima, but dominated Glendale (26-0) and Mesa (64-23) in the past two weeks.

Though they are the only undefeated team in the top 10, they are sandwiched between No. 1 East Mississippi and No. 3 Iowa Western in the polls. Those two teams flip-flopped spots in the rankings after last week. For a more detailed breakdown of all the scenarios regarding the national championship and postseason prospects for AWC, check out Thursday’s print edition of the Yuma Sun or go to yumasun.com.

Devin Neal, freshman WR

Neal averages more than 100 yards per game and is 50 shy of 1,000 for the season. Only twice in nine games has he failed to record a touchdown.

Greg Bell, sophomore RB

Bell has had at least 15 carries in the past five games and has proven to be a workhorse, like Oct. 28 when he had 33 carries, 211 yards and 2 TDs.

Arizona Western can make it two straight seasons with an undefeated regular-season record should it win today. And the likely — yet not assured — scenario for the No. 2 Matadors would be a return to the NJCAA

National Championship, which they lost in a heartbreaker a year ago.