Andrew Luberda
The practice regimen for Campo Verde quarterbacks Cole Pineda and Dylan Wright paid dividends Friday night as the 6’6” 215 pound Wright carried the load for the Coyotes in a 16–0 upset victory over Poston Butte.
“He did a great job,” said Coyote’s head coach Max Ragsdale about his junior signal caller. “We give them equal reps during the week, for the most part, for this very reason. (Pineda) is dinged up, and we bring in (Wright) and we have just as much confidence in him as we do Cole.”
Wright, who looks every bit the part of a prototypical pocket passer, showed off his arm strength and accuracy on two touchdown passes to senior receiver Josh Barro against the Broncos.
But Friday night he did more than just show off his passing skills, he executed the Coyotes’ spread option attack to perfection to keep the Broncos’ stingy defense off-balance.
“Yeah, the line did great,” answered Wright when asked if he was pleased with offensive performance by the Coyotes. “I had time to throw.”
The Coyotes’ ended a mid-season, five-game losing streak last week against Coconino. They knew Friday was a must-win game versus the Broncos.
“I’m proud of our kids for buying in,” Ragsdale said afterwards. “We went through a five-game stretch where our kids could’ve called it a season. They didn’t, they stayed resilient and beat a quality team like Poston Butte.”
What’s been the difference the last two games compared to previous five, Wright was asked.
“We had a lot of preparation going into this week,” he answered. “We really hit film hard. The coaches did a great job of preparing us. We knew exactly what they were doing.”
Now 5 – 5 on the year, the Coyotes have renewed their playoff hopes with two wins in their past two games. They’ll need a win next week to have any hopes of reaching the playoffs. Games like next week’s and beyond are where quarterbacks make their name. For Wright, though, there’s no pressure, instead it’s one day, one rep at a time.
“Day by day,” he said in response to feeling any pressure. “We’ve got film in the morning.”
“It’s great to keep our season our going,” he added. “We have Mesquite next week and (we’re) hoping to get the ‘W.’”
With Pineda’s playing status for next week unknown, one thing is for sure; the Coyotes can’t go wrong with Wright.
