High school football: Sabino's wins 3A state crown, the 1st for any Tucson-area school in 8 years

PHOENIX — At the beginning of the 2023 high school football season, Sabino’s coaching staff made shirts that simply said “2015.”

In 2015, Pusch Ridge Christian Academy won what was then known as the Division IV state title; that was the most recent state championship by a Tucson-area team until No. 4 Sabino defeated No. 3 Surprise Paradise Honors 68-46 to win Arizona’s Class 3A state championship Saturday night at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix.

“That was the last time that Tucson as a city, took home a state championship and these guys had lofty expectations,” Sabino head coach Ryan McBrayer said amid his team’s celebration. “They never wavered in any of that belief and they’re the team that broke an eight-year curse for Southern Arizona and now we’re gonna go cheer on (Canyon del Oro) as they bring home a second in two weeks for Tucson.”

McBrayer is right; after eight years without a state championship in Southern Arizona, CDO’s Dorados might make it two in less than a week when they play for the 4A crown on Friday in Tempe.

Before Sabino’s matchup with Paradise Honors, Canyon del Oro’s football account on X (Twitter) posted a good luck message to the Sabercats: “The Tucson take over starts tonight! Good luck!”

The Sabercats (11-3) didn’t really need luck — not with senior running back Mason Cade in the backfield. Cade rushed 23 times for 371 yards and five touchdowns in the title-game shootout with Paradise Honors.

Cade joked postgame that he was hoping for six scores, but he’ll settle for five and a trophy.

“It’s huge. We were doing it for our town. We weren’t just doing it for Sabino, we were doing it for Tucson — 520,” Cade said, in homage to Southern Arizona’s longtime area code. “Now they gonna know to look out for Tucson in these upcoming years.”

Cade had three touchdowns of at least 66 yards.

“It was a great opportunity to be out and play with my team,” Cade said. “(Offensive) ine balled out; everybody balled out.

“They just made it easy for me to go run those lanes and do what I can do — do what I know I can do.”

The 68 points by Sabino is an 11-man football Arizona state championship game record.

Paradise Honors (11-3) senior quarterback Gage Baker was 46 for 67 for 517 yards, and on one of his touchdown throws Saturday, he tied the national record with 91 touchdown passes this season. He also set the state record for career passing touchdowns with 169.

McBrayer admitted to having a bit of anxiety throughout the game despite building up big leads.

“We saw on film all week, these guys from Paradise Honors have the ability to score at any moment. So that comeback was always in the back of my mind,” McBrayer said. “They’ve got some very, very special athletes, Gage Baker’s a special quarterback but every time they got within three scores, Mason Cade was running for another 70-yard touchdown.”

Sabino senior quarterback Cameron Hackworth was 5 for 6 for 118 yards and two scores and had 37 yards rushing. He now holds the Southern Arizona career passing yardage (8,799) and passing touchdown (95) records, according to AllSportsTucson.com.

“It feels amazing,” Hackworth said. “I wanted to come to Sabino and leave my legacy and that’s what I did.”

As McBrayer was talking to the media, Hackworth came up and hugged him.

“Cam makes people a better coach,” McBrayer said. “He’s a special player, so some of the things you draw up on a whiteboard all looks good in theory but a defense is coming after it and you have a quarterback that can change the game in any moment. It makes us look good.”

Sabino junior receiver/strong safety Shamar Berryhill had three catches for 77 yards, but it was his third-quarter interception return for a touchdown that widened the Sabercats’ lead in the high-scoring affair.

Although Sabino finished third in the 3A South Region — though every 3A South team made the state tournament this season — and lost 49-7 to 4A semifinalist Mica Mountain, the Sabercats finished the season on a five-game winning streak that included two wins over No. 1 Bullhead City Mohave. Sabino’s last 11 games came against playoff teams.

“We learned really quick that nothing was going to be given,” McBrayer said. “With our schedule, we had slices of humble pie.

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From Mica Mountain, to playing in the 3A South — the Thatchers, the Morencis — and all they did was make our guys battle-tested. When we had the opportunity to pull apart from each other, these guys just bonded together, and by the time we had the opportunity to play No. 1 Mohave in the last game of the regular season, there was zero doubt that we were a Sabino High football team, that we were all in.”

Paradise Honors’ offense scored 72 points in the semifinals and 64 and 77 in other games this season.

“Our defense this entire playoff run was just flying to the ball and making guys not want to be on the field on offense anymore,” McBrayer said. “They were bringing the pads and bringing their lunch buckets.”

Brooks Reed, who played for Sabino and then at the University of Arizona before a 10-year NFL career, attended the game, as did local high school football coaching legend Jeff Scurran. Now head coach at Rio Rico High School, Scurran led Sabino to its run of three state titles in the 1990s.

“It’s amazing to see alumni come back and really talk to us and tell us what this means to them and to the whole Sabino community,” Hackworth said. “It means a lot to us, it feels good to come out here and finally get one.”

It’s Sabino’s fourth state championship, and first this century. The Sabercats won titles in 1990 (4A), 1992 (4A) and 1998 (4A) under Scurran, who wore a throwback Sabino T-shirt under his jacket Saturday in Phoenix.

“It feels great. It’s amazing. Doing it for Tucson, doing it for Sabino (and) bringing it back for Mr. (Kevin) Amidan, our principal right now,” Cade said, noting that Amidan was a player on Sabino’s last title team in ’98.

“It’s great to bring another one home — bring a ring home,” Cade added. “What a way to end it.”

Photos: Sabino outguns Paradise Honors 68-46, wins Arizona 3A high school football championship