Oct. 23: Salpointe Catholic 38, Tucson High 24
The streak lives on.
Salpointe Catholic erupted for 28 second-half points Friday to beat visiting Tucson High 38-24 and notch its 22nd straight victory against the Badgers, extending a streak that dates back to 1993 (see box score below).
But more importantly, the victory on homecoming night has the Lancers one win from qualifying for the Division II state playoffs, in a season many declared over just a few weeks ago.
“Everybody counted us out, but these kids have fought and fought and fought,” Salpointe coach Dennis Bene said. “We’re going in next week, senior night at home, with a chance to make the playoffs.
“That’s right where we need to be.”
Senior running back Dominic Salaz rushed for 200-plus yards for the second week in a row as Salpointe amassed 443 yards on the ground to win its third straight game. Prior to this current run, the Lancers had lost three straight games capped off by a 21-16 loss against Sunnyside at home, on a night they tallied just 252 yards of offense.
“We’re a second-half team,” said Salaz, who gained 215 yards and scored three touchdowns on 25 carries. “We push harder in the second half, that’s just the team we are. We’ll change that, we’ll go hard all game next time.”
The Lancers (5-4) entered the night ranked 17th in the division and a win over No. 13 Tucson will surely move them up in position to earn an at-large bid at the minimum. Salpointe closes the season with a home game against Cienega next Friday in another must-win game in order to qualify for the postseason for the sixth straight year.
“The kids have stayed on the grind and never checked out,” Bene said. “It’s easy to lose teenagers through adversity and lose them mentally. The kids have been grinders, believing in what we’re doing so all the credit goes to the boys.”
Backup quarterback Sean Barton, a junior, proved to be the difference maker on Friday night. The 6-foot-2-inch track athlete broke loose for a 15-yard gain on his first snap of the game, early in the second quarter. Barton continued to cause headaches for the Badgers and put the game out of reach when he cut to the right side for a 9-yard touchdown run with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter, giving Salpointe a 38-14 lead.
“We decided to run the quarterback a lot this week,” said Barton, who finished with 100 yards on 11 carries. “We’ve just been working on it in practice and it worked in the game too.”
Less than a minute after Barton’s touchdown run, Sahuaro’s upset of Sunnyside was announced over the public address system at Salpointe’s Ed Doherty Stadium. It was greeted with cheers because now, if Salpointe wins and Tucson beats Sunnyside next week, the Lancers will be crowned the section champion, guaranteeing a spot in the state playoffs, which begin Nov. 6.
Senior defensive lineman Justin Holt, who is verbally committed to play for the Arizona Wildcats, came around the right side of the line to sack Jorge Flores on fourth down, giving the Lancers the ball with a 14-point lead and less than six minutes to play.
“It just worked, it was a perfect,” said Holt, who had another sack earlier in the game as well. “This is a big game for us; homecoming means a lot to these people. We wanted to put on a show for them an bring home a W because it means a lot to win here at home, at Salpointe.”
The game was tied at 10 heading into the third quarter but the Lancers needed just seven plays to drive 78 yards to regain the lead. Salaz, who had a 55-yard scoring run in the first half, capped off the series with a 10-yard touchdown to put the Lancers up 17-10.
But Tucson (6-3) fought back and tied the game twice before Salaz broke free for an 11-yard touchdown in the first minute of the fourth quarter, putting Salpointe up for good. Salpointe held Badgers running back DeAndre Williams to 95 yards, keeping him below 100 for the first time this season.
“This is big, considering where we started,” Holt said. “We’ve grown so much; we’re a much better team than when we started. We’ve just grown and matured and come a lot closer; it’s just coming together at the right time.”
Daniel Gaona
