Flowing Wells beat a depleted Caral Hayden squad 63-0 at home Friday night to move to 5-0 on the year. The victory was impressive but questions still remain on how good the Caballeros are midway through the season with 5A Southern Region play starting next week.

The Caballeros are 5-0 for the first time in a decade and the 63-0 victory margin is the fourth largest in program history with a 70-0 win over Douglas in 1994 and a 70-0 win over Nogales last year being the greatest. Incidentally, the Caballeros will visit Nogales (2-2) next week for a shot at a 6-0 record.

Hayden (1-3) came in missing a bit over a dozen players from a reported altercation from last week and the Flowing Wells defense was relentless, giving up only 45 yards of offense on 46 plays. By contrast, Caballero senior running back Jayden Simmons ended the night with 103 yards rushing on five carries and four touchdowns and fellow Sr. Quinn Van had 50 yards rushing on three carries and a score. So. Marty Hudecek added two touchdowns, Jr. Trenton Plumley had a TD and So. Aurelio Merin added another.

The Caballeros had 21 points in the first seven minutes of the game and 28 a few seconds into the second quarter. It’s understandable that human nature takes over at that point and technique starts to slip but Flowing Wells head coach Brian Hook sees the need for improvement for next week.

“We need to block better, tackle better,” Hook explained. “That's always a common theme. That's usually the equation.”

Flowing Wells went 5-5 last year with the team beating Nogales 70-0 and Maricopa 44-20 to end the season. That streak has carried over to this year and Hook had a feeling this season was going to be special.

“I felt pretty good about the ending to the season last year,” Hook added. “We have a good group of kids, our senior group, they were my first group of freshmen. They bought into the program all along. Great program guys. Is the first time I've had a group of guys really displaying leadership, take ownership. They hold other kids accountable and it's a really fun group.”

Falcon Sr. Alex Montes pulled in 35 yards on four catches and Fr. Legacy Brisco picked up an interception to provide a couple of bright spots for Carl Hayden. Van had an interception and Hudecek, Ariez Lyons and Josiah Hardin recovered fumbles for the Caballeros.

Carl Hayden hosts Washington (2-2) next week to open up 4A Copper Sky competition.

THE PLAYS