Thanks to a strong start by Salpointe Catholic, a couple of Catalina Foothills late-game touchdowns couldn’t ruin Homecoming and senior night festivities for the unbeaten Lancers.
The 42-14 victory extended Salpointe’s winning streak to nine games and also secured its third straight Class 4A Kino region title.
“To beat the CDOs and the Sahuaros and the Foothills, the Casa Grandes, it wasn’t easy,” Salpointe coach Dennis Bene said. “We’re very, very proud of a region title and take great pride in it.”
The Lancers (9-0, 4-0) took off from the beginning when Salpointe recovered a Falcons fumble on Catalina Foothills’ opening drive. Three plays later, quarterback Devin Green connected with Mario Padilla in the end zone to give the Lancers the lead.
Salpointe went on to score twice more before the end of the first quarter. The latter touchdown came on a punt block by Sergio Sanchez, who then recovered the loose ball in the end zone.
Salpointe Catholic linebacker Shamon Davis (40) roars after sacking Catalina Foothills quarterback Joaquin Holm during the second quarter of the Lancers’ 42-14 win Friday night.
Bijan Robinson added two touchdowns, both on rushing plays in the second quarter, to extend the lead to 34-0 at the half. Robinson finished the night with 87 yards on 10 carries.
Bene said there was a lot of distractions on the field due to all the festivities, but he was glad the team came out strong.
“We came out with a lot of energy early. I thought we were really good early,” Bene said. “We had a great first half, so we were able to get in a lot of the young kids.”
After another Padilla touchdown — this time on a 66-yard play — the Lancers made some adjustments to their lineup and sat out the majority of their starters.
In the fourth quarter, the Falcons stopped the Lancers offense for the first time with a turnover on downs.
The ensuing Foothills drive resulted in its first score of the night on a 46-yard rush by Dominic Bynum.
Padilla finished with three rushes for 128 yards, four catches for 86 yards, three touchdowns and a 2-point conversion.
“He’s grown big time,” Robinson said of Padilla. “He’s gotten a lot smarter. From my first year to now, he’s gotten smarter. I’ll just tell you right now, the colleges are coming.”
The Falcons (4-5, 2-2) will host Sahuaro next week, while the Lancers will close out the regular season at Casa Grande Vista Grande.
The first round of the 4A state tournament will be played Nov. 2, and if a Southern Arizona school finds itself in the finals, the championship game will be played at Arizona Stadium.
The Lancers are hoping that’s the case.
“We got to have redemption from last year,” junior Lathan Ransom said. “In front of our home crowd, we lost last year and we just want to get back there and win this year.”
