Looking back at Sedona Red Rock High School’s 44-14 loss Friday, Oct. 23, at Monument Valley High School, head coach John Bradshaw was mostly just bewildered.

“We moved the ball well in the first half,” Bradshaw said after his Scorpions offense advanced to the Mustangs’ 5-yard-line twice but came away with zero points. “Both times, penalties backed us up to the 35.

“I’ve been so busy breaking down our practice defense, I’ve just started going back and looking at the film. But they just weren’t penalties.”

It marked the first scoreless first half of the season since a Sept. 4 loss at Paradise Honors High School.

While both the Panthers and Mustangs are headed for the Division V postseason, the Scorpions [6-3] will be looking to play spoiler to one-loss Hopi High School, ranked No. 13 in the Arizona Interscholastic Association power rankings, on Senior Night.

SRRHS will host the Bruins in a battle for second place in Section VII at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30.

“We had pretty good ball control, and we won the turnover battle,” Bradshaw said. “We were driving the ball, playing hard and we made a lot of stops. We just had bad luck and didn’t catch a break from the refs.”

The Scorpions’ offensive line, minus senior leader Tim Hall — sitting out after being ejected from an Oct. 16 win at Tuba City High School — couldn’t make up the difference against the third-ranked and undefeated Mustangs.

“Without Tim there, it was just impossible,” Bradshaw said. “We couldn’t match them on the line; they were too big and fast.”

For the full story and standings, please see the Wednesday, Oct. 28, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.