After losing 28 seniors and its two-time state champion head coach Dusty Peace, this season looked like a rebuilding one for Canyon del Oro football.
The Dorados seem to disagree, though.
New CDO head coach Scott McKee, who is in his 19th season as a head coach after stops at Pueblo and Sahuaro, said they have 38 new guys and 18 new starters.
Last year, the Dorados went 14-0 and won the Class 4A state championship.
“Our guys want to prove themselves,” McKee said. “They want people to know who their names are, and they want to leave their mark on the program. The tradition that we have here is second to none; Dusty set it that way.
Nobody cares how old they are or how much experience, the standard at CDO is that you gotta be good at football, and I think we’re getting there. I’d just like to see us a little sharper.”
Canyon del Oro coach Dustin Peace, left, and then-Sahuaro coach Scott McKee have a laugh before a 2021 game. McKee is now the CDO head coach.
After a 12-3 loss at Mesa Eastmark, the young Dorados have picked up 38-7, 21-6 and 27-0 wins.
Eastmark went 9-3 last season and reached the state quarterfinals where they fell to state finalist Yuma Catholic.
“We could have been more physical for Eastmark, but these other games we’re taking the steps up the ladder,” said CDO senior lineman Eli Unsworth.
Even though they lost so many seniors, CDO junior kicker/tight end Reece Douglas said he didn’t think people were writing off the Dorados this season.
“I think people see CDO as a disciplined school and I think coach McKee raises a disciplined program,” Douglas said. “We know the expectations were high and I think we’re meeting those expectations.”
Canyon del Oro’s Evan Greer helped the team to a 14-0 finish and a state title last year. He’s one of five all-region players back for the Dorados, who have 18 new starters this season.
The Dorados did return five all-region selections, led by senior defensive end/running back Evan Greer, who was also first-team All-4A. Unsworth, Douglas, junior receiver/defensive back Cash Dickey and junior offensive lineman/linebacker Caleb Dooley were the other All-4A Kino returnees.
“I was close with these seniors and it feels hard to let them go, but now I’m with my seniors, my friends and we’re pushing forward,” said Unsworth about returning to a team that lost so many seniors.
Unsworth said it feels great to start 3-1 and with a bigger role this season.
“It was it was an interesting process, just working hard and doing everything that I could possibly do to be ready to fill in those spots,” said Douglas, who scored 15 points in the Dorados’ 27-0 win over district rival Amphitheater last week.
McKee, who played for Arizona in the early 2000s, took over the program in January after Peace retired. After 13 seasons leading Sahuaro, McKee came to CDO in 2022 and last year coached the Dorados defense, offensive line and “anything he needed.”
This week’s 19 matchups involving Southern Arizona teams.
He said this season, with so many new players, the focus is on the fundamentals.
“I mean, there’s only one way to go with a young group and every time you try to add more it backfires for you,” McKee said. “So it’s really it’s about down steps, trap blocking, tackling and running to the football. If you can do those things, you put yourself in the ball game and then try to find what those kids’ skills are that they can do well.
“We’re still working through that to find out what they can do better,” he added.
Friday’s win over Amphi was CDO’s 13th straight in the Amphitheater Public Schools rivalry.
Canyon del Oro’s kicker Reece Douglas has his extra point blocked in the Class 4A state semifinal win over Mica Mountain last year. “We know the expectations were high and I think we’re meeting those expectations,” Douglas said of this year’s 3-1 start.
McKee joined the ranks of former Amphi head coach Vern Friedli and former CDO head coaches Pat Nugent and Bob Smith as coaches in the Amphi/CDO rivalry.
The young Dorados face their stiffest test of the season when they host Marana (4-0) on Friday. Led by head coach Phillip Steward, the Tigers have already beaten Tucson’s 6A team, Salpointe Catholic, plus defending 5A state champion Gilbert Higley this season.
“Yeah, it’s a great game,” McKee said. “For us, it’s a great measuring stick to what a playoff, a high-level, playoff-caliber 5A team looks like. We’re playing with house money on that.
“It’s really good because were get to see an experience team, with tremendous speed, they’re playing well, very well-coached,” he added.
