No. 2 Richard Sanchez
School: Sunnyside
Years in coaching: 1993-2010
Local record: 157-59
Achievements: After starting off as a wrestling coach at Sunnyside, Sanchez quickly applied the same bulldog approach on the gridiron that helped the Blue Devils win five straight state championships on the mat from 1990 to 1994. Sunnyside’s football team went 27-26 the five seasons before Sanchez stepped in as a leader and had won just one postseason game since 1982. The Blue Devils went 8-4 and reached the state playoffs in the first season under Sanchez and went 10-2 with an appearance in the 4A quarterfinals in 1999. That was just the beginning: Under his guidance, Sunnyside played in the state title game four times and won titles in 2001 and 2003. The Blue Devils reached the postseason 14 times out of his 18 seasons on the sidelines despite the fact that Sanchez’s teams were much lighter and smaller. Just four of his former players went on to sign Division I scholarships, but Sanchez continued to churn out productive seasons. The Blue Devils finished 11 seasons with at least eight wins, including nine seasons with double-digit win totals. Sunnyside also dominated locally, winning 41 straight region games from 1998 to 2005, going undefeated in region play from 1999 to 2004. Sanchez is responsible for two of the longest winning streaks in Tucson high school football history with runs of 25 and 23 straight victories. He also had a streak of 11 consecutive seasons with at least one playoff win.
Memorable moment: Sanchez led the Blue Devils to the program’s first state crown in 2001, one year after losing in the championship game. There was never any doubt the second time around, as Sunnyside scored on the first play from scrimmage at Sun Devil Stadium and never trailed Phoenix Greenway on its way to a 28-6 win. Just 19 seconds into the game, Joey Warren returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown. The Blue Devils held the Demons to 169 yards of total offense, and star running back Philo Sanchez, the son of Richard Sanchez, rushed for 184 yards and one touchdown on a title-game-record 41 carries.
From the archives: “I met Richard in 1983, when he was coaching freshman football, and he put the fear of God into me. But every day I wake up and look at the state championship ring that sits on a desk by the bed. We know what it’s like to be at the pinnacle. Richard put us there.” – Sunnyside football coach Glenn Posey, a former assistant under Sanchez, in the Feb. 10, 2011, Arizona Daily Star
Big number: 50. From the beginning of the 2000 season and through the end of the 2003 campaign, Sunnyside won 50 games while losing just five.
The Blue Devils also reached the state final each year in that stretch except for 2002 when Scottsdale Chaparral, the eventual champion that year, beat Sunnyside 20-17 in the 4A semifinals.
Coming up: Find out who is ranked No. 1 in Sunday’s Star.
