Editorβs note: Over the next five days, the Star is listing five reasons why 2019 was one of the best football seasons in Arizona history. Todayβs topic: Salpointe Catholicβs run to the first-ever Open Division bracket in head coach Dennis Beneβs final season.
Salpointe Catholic was set up for a storybook ending.
After 18 seasons as the head coach of his alma mater, Dennis Bene announced his retirement the week of Salpointe Catholicβs season opener. The 2019 season would be the final go-around.
Fortunately for the Lancers, they were the best team in Southern Arizona. Led by Texas-bound running back and five-star recruit Bijan Robinson, future Ohio State safety Lathan Ransom, future Power 5 conference offensive lineman Jonah Miller, guard and UCLA commit Bruno Fina, star quarterback Treyson Bourguet and tight end Connor Witthoft, among others, the Lancers had the players to make a deep run in the newly created Open Division.
Salpointe proved it belonged before falling in the Open Division semifinals. Still, their undefeated regular-season run and playoff push stood as one of the biggest highlights of the 2019 season.
βWe had a team that we felt confident could compete with just about anybody in the state. We had the kids that could compete with anybody,β said current Salpointe Catholic head coach Eric Rogers, who was an assistant under Bene in 2019. β(Robinson and Ransom) are two of the best people, not just football players. Having those two compete against each other every day in practice brought our whole team to another level. β¦ When I look back on this year, thatβs what I remember the most.β
Beneβs impending departure βgave us more motivation to want to get it,β Robinson said. βFor the 2020 class, it was our last year of high school so we wanted to go out with a bang.β
The route to a state championship wouldnβt be easy.
On Jan. 22, 2019, the Arizona Interscholastic Association Executive Board unanimously passed the motion to create the Open Division, an eight-team playoff of Arizonaβs elite teams to compete for one championship. The plan was designed to end the predictable state champions at each division: Chandler in 6A, Peoria Centennial in 5A and Scottsdale Saguaro in 4A.
Dennis Bene almost took his team to an overall state championship in his final season as the Lancersβ head coach.
All three schools won back-to-back state championships in 2017 and 2018, going a combined 78-8 in the process. Only two of the eight losses came against high schools from Arizona. The other six were against cream-of-the-crop teams from California, Nevada, Utah and Florida.
The runner-ups were consistent as well. Salpointe Catholic fell to Saguaro three consecutive years in either the state championship or semifinal round.
The Open Division βwould end the premise that we donβt want to know who wins the state championship before we play Week 1,β AIA executive director David Hines said at the time.
It also gave Southern Arizona teams a chance. Sahuaro, which lost to Salpointe Catholic 53-6 in the Class 4A state semifinals in 2019, got an opportunity to compete for a state championship with the Lancers in the Open Division. Sahuaro was the top-seeded team in the 4A bracket, while Canyon del Oro was the No. 3 seed.
The Open Division, however, was where the big boys played. Salpointe planned to be among the eight teams making the bracket.
βCoach Bene made it crystal clear from the that he wanted and expected us to be in the (Open Division),β Rogers said. Whether we win it or not, the only thing that mattered was being the best Salpointe could be and letβs go make a run.
βIt takes an awful lot to get to that place and it takes a lot to win that.β
The Lancers went 9-0 in the regular season and won the 4A Kino Region championship as Robinson set the big-school rushing record with 7,036 career yards and became Arizonaβs all-time touchdowns leader with 114.
Salpointe Catholic not only punched its ticket to the Open Division, but was the only team from Southern Arizona in a field that also included Chandler (6A), Peoria Centennial (5A), Scottsdale Saguaro (4A), Phoenix Pinnacle (6A), Scottsdale Horizon (5A), Chandler Hamilton (6A) and Scottsdale Chaparral.
The Lancers routed Pinnacle by 38 points in the first game, setting up a semifinal contest against top-seeded Chandler, which rode a 24-game win streak heading into a βneutral-siteβ game at nearby Hamilton High School.
The Wolves beat Salpointe 24-16, and went on to top Saguaro 42-35 in the Open Division championship.
βI just loved how everyone was committed to the goal. We had a goal and everyone stuck to it β even the younger guys. They just followed the lead,β Robinson said.
