A heartbreaking loss in the first round of the state tournament last year has helped fuel Pusch Ridge Christian’s dominance this season.
Last year, eighth-seeded Pusch Ridge fell to No. 9 seed Lakeside Blue Ridge 20-17 at home to open the Class 3A state tackle football tournament.
“Absolutely. That is a devastating, sad loss to Blue Ridge, a great team,” senior quarterback/outside linebacker Jacob Newborn said. “Definitely left a bad taste in our mouth. Tough first-round loss, and I definitely think it helped prepare us for this year.
“A lot of a lot of young guys on that team who were coming back this year and able to get better and learn from that, so absolutely, I would say that definitely affected us in a positive way.”
This season, the Lions are off to a 7-1 start (2-0 3A South) and have won six in a row.
Pusch Ridge head coach Kent Middleton has a pat on the head for his players after a Lion defensive stand against Blue Ridge in last year’s Class 3A state playoff matchup on Nov. 3, 2023, in Tucson.
“It’s gone really well,” PRCA head coach Kent Middleton said about this season. “We’ve played real good football, and we’re fundamentally sound. We’re not turning the ball over at all and playing really good run defense and that those two things give you a chance to win.
“We’re able to run the ball too.”
Other than a 31-7 loss to Queen Creek Benjamin Franklin on Sept. 6, No. 7 Pusch Ridge has outscored all other opponents 321-24.
“It’s gone pretty well so far. We put in a lot of work in the offseason and it’s not really surprising,” Newborn said. “We knew we were gonna be wherever we were at, but the great thing is we can only get better and we know that, so we just gotta keep working, stay humble, don’t get arrogant.”
On Oct. 4, the Lions beat local rival Sabino 42-14. Going into the game, the Sabercats had won four of the last five against PRCA.
The Pusch Ridge players enter the field through a sign saying “BELIEVE” before facing Blue Ridge in the first round of the 2023 Arizona Class 3A state high school football playoffs on Nov. 3, 2023, at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy in Tucson. The Lions lost that 2023 game, 20-17, but they now believe 2024 may just be their year after all.
Sabino and Pusch Ridge are the only Tucson area schools in 3A, so they are often called to represent the Old Pueblo against teams like Thatcher, Safford and Morenci.
“First of all, we always want to represent God,” Newborn said, “but obviously, it’s pretty cool to go to be able to represent Tucson.
Pusch Ridge won the Division II state championship in 2015 and in 2017, finished runner-up in the 3A.
Up until Sabino’s 3A title last year, Pusch Ridge’s 2015 championship was Tucson’s most recent.
Pusch Ridge returned 11 All-3A South selections from last year’s team, led by senior kicker/punter Tyler Nolan and Newborn, who were first team last season.
Pusch Ridge’s Jacob Newborn (4) tries to work his way past Blue Ridge’s David Simmons (1) during their 2023 Class 3A state playoff game on Nov. 3, 2023. Newborn, a running back in 2023, is shining at quarterback in 2024.
With first-team All-Region quarterback Bubba Mustain as Pusch Ridge’s signal caller last year, Newborn played running back; he rushed for 900 yards and eclipsed 100 yards rushing in six of the eight games he played.
“Good to get back in the swing of things,” he said of moving back to the quarterback spot.
This year, Newborn leads the region in passing with 1,057 yards, is fourth in rushing with 501 yards, second in scoring with 72 points, second in touchdowns with 12 and is first in total yards with 1,558.
“Jake’s been great — running the ball real well, throwing it well, incredible leadership,” Middleton said. “Very, very, mature young man, and a great athlete; so he’s done a great job this year.”
Awaiting the Lions this week is the de facto 3A South championship game on Friday, when they travel to No. 1 Thatcher (7-1, 2-0 3A South).
Pusch Ridge is 2-6 against Thatcher all-time according to azfootballarchives.com, and has lost three in a row to the Eagles.
The last time PRCA won a region title was in 2021.
“It’s a huge game, they’ve taken, they’ve beaten us last two years, last three years, that’s a huge game,” Newborn said. “We’re going to have to prepare really hard, we know Thatcher is a great opponent, there’s so much respect for them and the way they play the game, yeah it’s a big game, we know that.”
