Sierra Vista Buena coach Joe Thomas never doubted it would work.
That’s the kind of faith he has in this team, and the kind of faith he has in 14-year-old sophomore receiver Keyon Taylor. Not many coaches would have the guts to run a wide receiver pass on their own goal line with just a touchdown lead and 43 seconds left in the first half.
However, once Taylor whipped around with the ball, and senior Kemish Riley was standing 30 yards away with half the field to himself, Smith knew the gamble had paid off.
“(Taylor) runs our scout team, and he’s the first one that wants to do it,” Thomas said. “We practice stuff like that in practice, for fun, and it just happened to work out in a game for us.”
The 91-yard touchdown pass was the signature play of Friday’s 35-6 win at Catalina Foothills, Thomas’ first season-opening win in his five years at Buena.
With the help of seniors like starting quarterback Jovoni Borbon, tight end Jesse Avina and Riley, among others, he’s taken Buena from the depths of back-to-back winless seasons to hovering around the .500 mark. This fall, for the first time in a long time, the Colts (1-0) got to kick things off right.
“It’s a statement game,” Borbon said. “I’ve been here. I’ve been the starting varsity quarterback for four years and still hadn’t won a first game. I was hyped on the sidelines. This is going to set us up for the whole season.”
The elusive 5-foot-10 quarterback made his share of mistakes, with two interceptions and a fumbled snap, but he finished the game in style, hitting on five of his last seven passes, including the 91-yard score down the right sideline to Taylor. Overall, Borbon completed 7 of 11 for 180 yards and three touchdowns through the air with nine carries for 75 yards on the ground.
“You just have to trust him,” Thomas said. “He’s been with you for four years. When he throws the ball up, there’s going to be a chance of it getting picked off. But I’m always going to go back to trusting my guy.”
The rain pelted down in the fourth quarter, giving Thomas his de-facto Gatorade shower. The Colts took a picture in front of the scoreboard afterwards. This was a moment to celebrate, a building block for this season and beyond.
Catalina Foothills (0-1) may be rebuilding under first-year coach Darius Kelly, waiving goodbye to a strong senior class and former coach Jeff Scurran after last season. But a victory over the Falcons, who played finished Class 4A state runner-up in 2016, still carries weight, especially for a team in Buena that is seeking its first playoff berth in six years.
“This is history,” Borbon said. “I told the guys on the bus, ‘We didn’t come here to come here. We didn’t work this hard, go to camp, do 48 up-downs a day, 500 push-ups a week just to come here. We came here to make a statement, to win and show people what we’re about as a program.”
