Five of Tucson’s traditional football powers — Sabino, Sahuaro, Catalina Foothills, Salpointe and Ironwood Ridge — begin the season this week. Really.
The AIA refers to the Aug. 20-21 games as “Zero Week” games. All schools will complete the regular season before Halloween. Doesn’t that seem backward in Southern Arizona?
The high school players practice in the hottest part of the summer and begin games when all others involved — fans, friends, cheerleaders, family, the student body — are inconvenienced by excess heat.
The one thing that does fly in early opening games is that the Coaches for Charity organization, which promotes four Tucson-area games, has given the start of the season an identity and some oomph.
Nobody bit off a bigger chew on opening week than Ironwood Ridge coach Matt Johnson, whose Nighthawks open at home Friday against Chandler Hamilton, winner of seven state championships from 2003 to 2012.
But that’s how Johnson rolls. His team won the 2012 state championship against a list of the state’s top powers. Ironwood Ridge’s schedule this year is ridiculously strong; it does not have a single light touch, ending on Oct. 30 with Mountain View, which could be this year’s top team in Tucson.
