Gridiron Guide: Rincon brings 'immaculate' band on game night
The annoucer's booth at the football field at Rincon/University High School, 421 N Arcadia Avenue, on Tuesday August 04, 2015. Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
School: Rincon/University
Name: None
Address: 421 N. Arcadia Ave.
Opened: 1958
The lowdown: Rincon’s stadium is one of the oldest in Southern Arizona and one of the few that has the field going east to west, rather than the customary north to south. The venue also served as the host site for a Minnesota Vikings exhibition game in the late 1970s and houses one of the best bands in Arizona. It’s also the only stadium in town with its own truck: An old-school Dodge fire engine leads the team onto the field before every home game. Second-year coach Lucius Miller, who has been with the program for 20 years, has plenty of good memories, even though the Rangers have had just three winning seasons and two playoff appearances in that span.
Don’t miss: The band. Miller isn’t shy when he talks about one of the school’s most well-known entities. “Our band is immaculate,” he said. “It takes up half our stadium for every home game so we get a lot of participation, a lot of noise. You can’t beat it.” The band has more than 200 members.
Biggest game: Rincon capped its 1998 campaign — its first winning season in more than two decades — with a dramatic 31-24 triple-overtime win against Marana. Junior quarterback Daniel Pivirotto scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to extend the game; first on a 4-yard interception return and then on an 11-yard run. Clyde Hardin put the Rangers ahead for good with a 1-yard soring run in the third overtime before Rincon’s defense held Marana scoreless on its possession.
Performance for the ages: Senior running back Kevionte Alexander went off for a career-high 263 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries as Rincon took down visiting Marana in its 2012 home opener. Alexander amassed 1,646 yards and 21 touchdowns that season as the Rangers, then coached by Nate Gahn, finished 6-4, securing their first and only winning record since 2005.
Quotable: “It’s real exciting to be able to call it my own now. I called it home before, but now it’s my field, and it has a little different feel to it, a little different meaning to it.” – Miller
Daniel Gaona
