Pusch Ridge takes down ALA West Foothills for 3A state championship

GLENDALE — The close-knit Pusch Ridge football won its second state championship in style.

On Saturday night at Glendale Mountain Ridge, the No. 4 Lions (13-1) beat No. 2 Waddell ALA — West Foothills (13-1) 26-7, sporting mostly dyed blond locks to win the Class 3A state championship.

“It was just a little something that we wanted to do,” said PRCA senior quarterback and linebacker Jacob Newborn. “So the options were you could buzz your hair or bleach your hair or do both.”

“And so a vast majority of the kids did it and it’s just something that we come together, we even have one of the coaches doing it right there,” he added. “It’s just an example of the unity we have within this team, we just love each other and somebody said ‘We’re gonna do that’ and we’re all a bunch of you know, goofy kids, we’re like ‘All right, let’s do it.’”

The Lions made the hair changes right before the playoffs, a run that included a 43-0 win, a 38-6 win and 24-13 victory over No. 1 Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin, who was the only team to beat them this season, 31-7 on Sept. 6.

Pusch Ridge closed out the season with a 12-game winning streak.

During the post-game interviews, Pusch Ridge head coach Kent Middleton threw on a state champions hat and joked, “They shaved my head this week, and I don’t like it.”

“They are so close,” Middleton said. “You know, you hear it in championship teams and it’s true, these guys did not want to lose, they wanted the season to continue and they’re so close, they’re so tight, they’re such classy young men.

“They’re leaders on campus and to see them come together like this and pull this off is just an incredible feeling, it really is.”

It’s Pusch Ridge’s second state championship in its third title game appearance. Lions fans packed the visitor’s stands at Mountain Ridge, a 6A school.

Senior running back and linebacker Blake Reed overcame a hip dislocation and acetabular fracture last year to come back and win the title.

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“We’re just super close,” Reed said. “It’s a tight brotherhood and we’ll leave it all out on the line for all our teammates, we’ll die for each other on the street.”

Pusch Ridge held ALA — West Foothills to seven points, its worst output against a fellow 3A team. Last week, the Guardians scored 34 against No. 3 Thatcher.

“Our defense played lights out, they’re a big physical team and we’re not a big team on defense and we’re just tough, we’re just tough,” Middleton said. “They’re well-coached and we were able to shut down their run game and that forced them to pass a little bit and that really helped us out a lot … Jeff Drescher is our D coordinator and he’s just been phenomenal.”

ALA — West Foothills missed senior defensive end and linebacker J.J. Brutus after he broke his leg against Thatcher. He had 17.5 sacks and 701 yards rushing, 9.5 yards per carry.

“Obviously he’s a great player and my heart goes out to him and their team for him not playing in the game (Saturday night),” Middleton said. “I’m sure it had an effect because he is a game-breaker but we played great D and we bottled them up and we did what we could do.”

Pusch Ridge senior receiver and defensive back Elliott Lovett set up a touchdown with a circus catch for 32 yards and later he had an interception called back due to pass interference, picked off a pass again on the next play. He was knocked out of the game though with a concussion in the third quarter.

“Elliot’s a fantastic athlete, he’s just a great talent,” Middleton said. “I mean, I think he’s got five, six, seven, eight picks this year and with him going down that puts some pressure on our defensive backs but (these) guys that came in, stepped in and (did) a great job and it’s great that Elliot is gonna be OK and it’s great that he gets to go out a champion, absolutely.”

Pusch Ridge’s title is Oro Valley’s second in as many years as the Lions’ neighbors on the other side of Oracle, Canyon del Oro, won the 4A championship last year.

“We’re a small community and everybody knows everybody and it’s huge,” Middleton said. “I mean, this is so cool for our kids, our football players and the whole community, we’ve had great support (with) our athletic director, (it’s) just been fantastic with the support they’ve given us.”

“This happened for a lot of reasons,” he added. “It happened for a lot of reasons and a lot of people are partners.”

Last year, Sabino had shirts that simply said “2015,” the last season a Tucson area team had won a state championship (Pusch Ridge’s first title). The Sabercats ended that drought with a 3A title and the Lions won another 3A title for good measure.

“It’s awesome, even though, you know, Sabino’s a little bit of a rival,” Newborn said. “Still, it’s awesome to keep it in Tucson because Tucson is looked at as Phoenix’s little brother, so it’s cool to represent for Tucson and for Southern Arizona and to grow up a Tucson kid and to see Tucson is kind of always the underdog. So, to embrace that and come together with the coaches and the community, the whole Pusch Ridge community behind us and all of Tucson like we just said, it’s awesome, awesome.”