GLENDALE — Rarely does Rhett Rodriguez miss an Arizona Wildcats home game.
The son of Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez walks the sideline, hangs out in the locker room and watches press conferences from the back of the media room.
Rhett wasn’t around on Friday night to watch his father’s Arizona Wildcats upend Arizona State in the Old Pueblo, but he had a good reason: Catalina Foothills was in Glendale, preparing for Saturday’s Class 4A state championship game against Scottsdale Saguaro.
There would be no repeat of Friday’s upset.
Saguaro led by five touchdowns at halftime and won 42-14 in RhettRod’s final high school game.
“Obviously it’s a major disappointment,” Rhett Rodriguez said. “It’s not how we wanted it to end, but at the end of the day, I think we tried to make the most out of our talent and we fought hard to the last whistle and I’m proud of our guys.”
Rhett arrived at Catalina Foothills four years ago a tiny freshman, best known as the coach’s son. He left a local star, good enough to receive a scholarship to play for the UA.
It wasn’t always pretty on Saturday, but Rhett showed some flashes of what made him a Division I talent. The senior completed 15 of 20 passes for 105 yards and rushed for 72 yards and both of Catalina Foothills’ touchdowns against a Saguaro team boasting more than a dozen college prospects.
Rhett started as a freshman for Foothills, a rarity in high school football. He struggled early, rushing for 138 yards on the season and throwing for 12 touchdowns in his first year.
He bulked up to 6 feet 1 inch and 190 pounds by his senior season, then played his best football. Rhett threw for nearly 2,992 yards and 30 touchdowns this season, and was intercepted just three times. He rushed for 558 yards and another 15 scores.
The difference was “night and day,” Rhett said. “To think, freshman year, it was just…my handoff was stressful. I didn’t want to mess up a handoff. Then this year I had a lot more pressure on my shoulders, had a lot more command of the offense and I’m proud of the way it turned out.”
Catalina Foothills went 34-13 with RhettRod under center, easily the best four-year stretch in program history. Falcons coach Jeff Scurran doesn’t want to think about life without his quarterback.
“I’ll get to see him in school, we’ll miss him every day,” Scurran said. “We’re very, very fortunate. He played his heart out.”
Added tight end Max Michalczik, a fellow senior and the son of Arizona assistant Jim Michalczik: “You know, I got very lucky to be able to play with Rhett. It doesn’t get much better than Rhett when it comes to quarterback. He makes completions like no other, he makes great game decisions. I know Coach Scurran is grateful for him, our whole team is grateful for him.”
Catalina Foothills was a full-on reclamation project when Rhett arrived, and now he’ll move on to another rebuild, at an Arizona program trying to move past its lackluster 2016 campaign.
Late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s championship, the game well out of reach, Rhett fought his way for 1-yard rush. The last play of his Falcons career went for a touchdown.
Rich Rodriguez looked on from the sideline. He and Rhett hugged following the game, then the coach boarded a flight to Las Vegas. There, the Wildcats coach will check in on players already committed to Arizona’s 2017 class.
He doesn’t have to worry about one committed player, at least.
“That’s been my dream,” Rhett said of playing for his father. “It’s a dream come true and that was really the goal the whole four years, I want to play for the U of A, I want to play for my dad, and I’m going to be able to do that.”
