Maybe Jeff Scurran has the right idea.
A win is a win is a win in the do-or-die playoffs, the Catalina Foothills coach maintains, and that is more relevant now than ever.
This weekend’s state football playoff semifinals feature four Southern Arizona teams spread out over three classes, and each has a tough opponent this weekend. If one or more can emerge, it won’t matter much how. Just if.
Here’s a closer look at this weekend’s matchups:
Class 5A: No. 1 Cienega vs. No. 5 Peoria Centennial
There isn’t really too much to discuss about seeding once you get to the state semifinals. These are the final four, so they’ve gotta be good.
Pat Nugent, in particular, doesn’t need a reminder.
His Cienega Bobcats squad may be the bad boys on the block this season with the No. 1 seed and an undefeated record, but their opponent — Peoria Centennial — has been the bully on the block for more than a decade. The Coyotes have never lost more than three games in a season; they’ve won 12 or more games 10 times since opening in 2004. They’ve won back-to-back state titles.
“Pedigree means a ton,” Nugent said. “You’re playing Notre Dame, that’s what it’s like. They may have a loss or two, but it’s Notre Dame. This is a big boy. Centennial has won so much. They come in with a great history.”
Cienega counters with a great quarterback in Jamarye Joiner and all the momentum after putting up 63 points on what was a very good Gilbert Mesquite defense last week. Nugent stressed to his players that no matter the lofty seeding, the playoffs were full of pitfalls to avoid.
“The first two weeks, we tried to make sure they knew the records were the same,” he said. “You’re in the playoffs, you’re 0-0. Now we’re playing a two-time champ who won the division last year. When you’re 12-0 you don’t know what it is to lose, so there’s a nervous factor to be perfect all the time.”
To stay perfect, the Bobcats will have to shut down an offensive attack led by 1,300-yard rusher Zidane Thomas. Centennial averages 40 points per game, but has scored 23, 24 and 21 points the last three weeks.
“Centennial has the speed and size, and you sometimes run into fast teams, but this is the combination of the two,” Nugent said. “That’s the concern we have. We haven’t seen anyone who can match up with us in that regard, and they can.”
Class 4A: No. 4 Salpointe Catholic vs. No. 1 Scottsdale Saguaro
Of all the teams remaining, perhaps the unluckiest is fourth-seeded Salpointe. The Lancers will face a monolith in top-ranked Saguaro. At stake: a spot in the Class 4A state title game.
Saguaro enters Friday’s matchup undefeated and ranked third in Arizona and 14th nationally on Maxpreps’ Xcellent 25. The Lancers thought they were good in a 48-6 quarterfinal win over Tempe Marcos de Niza. Saguaro beat Peoria 61-6.
And that’s nothing new for the Sabercats, who have outscored opponents 578-122 this season, including a 292-26 margin over the last five weeks. You read that right: Saguaro is scoring nearly 60 points a game since the beginning of October.
“I mean, they’re the total package,” Salpointe coach Dennis Bene said. “Big, physical, very talented and very well-coached.”
Bene lauded Saguaro’s offensive line, which has paved the way and protected the team’s backfield to an almost absurd extent. Saguaro junior dual-threat quarterback Max Massingale has amassed 2,090 passing yards with 28 touchdowns and four interceptions while adding 803 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. Scarier for Salpointe: The Sabercats also boast one of the state’s top running backs in Stone Matthews, who has 1,811 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns.
“They’re so good up front; you have to commit guys to the box or you get destroyed,” Bene said. “It puts the back end of your defense in some tough spots. They’ve got wonderful wideouts and a quarterback who can get them the ball.”
Salpointe isn’t too shabby either, with a potent one-two punch in the backfield in running backs Mario Padilla and Bijan Robinson.
It could just come down to size and experience, as the Sabercats beat Salpointe in both categories.
Class 4A: No. 6 Catalina Foothills vs. No. 2 Gilbert Higley
Salpointe must contend with perhaps the toughest remaining team, but Catalina Foothills will have to stop perhaps the single most imposing individual talent.
Higley running back Draycen Hall has rushed for 2,236 yards and 28 touchdowns in 12 games.
Asked what stood out about Hall on film, Scurran replied simply.
“He’s really good! That’s what sticks out. Very, very prominently,” Scurran said. “How else can you treat it? You look at him and say wow. But it’s the semifinals; no one got here by accident.”
Perhaps not by accident, but Catalina Foothills has had some crash courses along the way.
The Falcons eked out a 35-31 nail-biter against Cave Creek Cactus Shadows in the first round, then squeezed by Peoria Sunrise Mountain 52-49 in the quarterfinals. Scurran admired his team’s resiliency, as despite the similar margins and high scores, he said the games weren’t very similar. The opening-round win was more of a slugfest, while the quarterfinal win was a shootout, Scurran said, “Golden State versus Oklahoma City.”
“You’d have to be with us to understand our motto, which is there’s no such thing as a bad playoff win,” Scurran said. “You burn the tape and move on. Not everyone does it. We do. We move on.”
The Falcons did it once this season about a month back and it worked out.
They were grounded in a 34-7, Week-9 loss at Salpointe, but Scurran says the team responded.
“We really stubbed our toe against Salpointe,” he said. “As a team we’ve discussed this. Everyone’s got to learn a lesson, and there’s nothing like a practical lesson.”
Class 3A: No. 5 Sabino vs. No. 1 Show Low
You’d always love to catch a team when it’s down, and that’s a good way to describe Sabino’s odds heading into Saturday’s matchup with Show Low.
Show Low is undefeated but licking its wounds a bit after escaping the quarterfinals with a 28-26 win over Yuma Catholic, the third game in four weeks in which the Cougars scored under 30 points.
The Sabercats, meanwhile, have surged as of late, beating their last five opponents by a combined score of 240-27. They thumped Winslow 48-0 last Saturday.
Jay Campos’ squad has its guard up as it chases its first state title since 1998.
“Winslow ran well but didn’t throw great, and these guys do both,” Campos said. “They won a state championship just a few years ago, and we’re very aware of the fact we’ll have to play great football.”
Show Low’s offense is no slouch — it’s outscored opponents 517-164 this year, as Rhett Ricedorff has thrown for 2,733 yards and 30 touchdowns.
“They don’t have a lot of big-time, standout kids, but a great collection of high school football players,” Campos said. “The quarterback makes a lot of plays. He’s elusive, hard to get down. We’re going to have to cover for long periods if we can’t get to them.”
Making things tougher is that the Cougars don’t have any specific No. 1 target in either the running game — six players have rushed for more than 200 yards this season, but none more than 604 — nor the passing game, where four players have between 389 and 703 receiving yards.
“They have a stable of guys and an offense where you have to defend the entire field,” Campos said. “But we’re pretty sound across the board — we’re not a defense that needs a new scheme every week. We blitz when it’s appropriate, not just to do it, and we try to stop teams at the goal line.”
Campos’ squad has used the modified schedule — Class 3A playoff games have all been played on Saturdays — to its advantage.
“I kind of like it now; an extra day of preparation is nice,” he said. “We get an extra day of talking about game plans. We make some minor adjustments, and by Tuesday we’re fully set.”
