The high school football season is in full swing in Southern Arizona. The Star shares our weekly look back at the best of last week while charging ahead toward what we might be able to expect from programs across Tucson and surrounding communities this Friday night.
During last year’s Class 3A playoffs, Pusch Ridge’s Jacob Newborn (4) tries to work his way past Blue Ridge’s David Simmons (1) during a game at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy on Nov. 3, 2023.
Team of the week
Pusch Ridge Christian opened up Class 3A South Region play with a dominant win over its local rival.
The No. 9 Lions (5-1) whipped defending state champion Sabino 42-14 at home to win their fourth straight. PRCA improved its record against the Sabercats to 3-5 all-time. Going into Friday’s game, Sabino had won four of the last five against the Lions.
Pusch Ridge senior quarterback Jacob Newborn passed for 287 yards with a long of 67 yards and three touchdowns. He was 15 for 19 with no interceptions, earning a 159.5 quarterback rating.
Newborn also led PRCA in rushing with 63 yards on six carries, led by a run of 48 yards. PRCA senior running back Sawyer Allen ran for 50 yards on 11 carries.
Six Lions caught passes, led by junior receiver Nate Campa, who had five catches for 98 yards.
On defense, the Lions intercepted Sabino freshman quarterback Bodhi Sanford three times.
Pusch Ridge senior linebacker Noah Miller had two interceptions and PRCA junior defensive end Aaron Kenworthy had 10 tackles, six of them solo.
Play of the week
At the end of the first half, with the game tied 10-10, Flowing Wells attempted a 35-yard field goal that Ironwood Ridge senior linebacker/lineman Samuel Kleving and senior receiver/corner back Grant Dooling returned for a touchdown. IR would go on to win 38-17.
Stat book
Salpointe Catholic senior running back Richard Rivera ran for 114 yards and two scores on 11 carries in the Lancers’ 52-14 over Phoenix Desert Vista last week.
Empire senior running back Ngonkra Fuangunyi rushed for 132 yards, including a run of 51 yards, in the Ravens’ 20-12 loss to Sahuarita on Friday.
Catalina junior tight end Levi Samuels ran for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns on 10 attempts as the Trojans topped Santa Rita 36-0. Samuels' longest run was 60 yards.
Recruiting trail
On Saturday, Ironwood Ridge senior defensive end/tight end David Baba committed to Colorado School of Mines.
Quotable
“We’ve been struggling. We’ve already had a small team, but this week we got back a lot of our key players. We changed around a few things, started going more run-heavy and we told the kids, ‘it’s about execution here.’” — first-year Rincon/University head coach Johnny Chan told All Sports Tucson. The Rangers knocked off Cholla 8-6 on Friday to snap their three-game losing streak.
Games of the Week
Walden Grove’s players start grabbing their helmets as they head for pre-game drills before a home game last season vs. Cienega on Sept. 15, 2023.
Walden Grove (3-2) at Sahuaro (3-3)
Location: 545 N. Camino Seco (7 pm.)
Notable: Two teams with playoff aspirations face off at Sahuaro. The Cougars (No. 25 in Tuesday's 4A list) have dropped two in a row first to Class 5A Ironwood Ridge and then an upset to Catalina Foothills last week. So it’s an important game for Sahuaro with Mica Mountain and CDO in successive weeks. Meanwhile Walden Grove (ranked 11th in 4A) is going in the other direction, having won three in a row. Last season WG won six in a row after starting 0-2.
Tucson’s Dominick Drow (12), left, and Kevin Bruns (1) scramble after a Badger onside kick in the fourth quarter at Catalina Foothills on Sept. 27.
Ironwood Ridge (5-1) at Tucson High (4-1)
Location: 400 N. Second Ave. (7 p.m.)
Notable: Last season they tied atop the 5A Sonoran at 4-1 apiece but Ironwood Ridge (ranked No. 6 in 5A in the first rankings of the season released Tuesday) won the tiebreaker since they beat the Badgers (No. 7 in Tuesday's 5A rankings) 37-22 at home. Tucson High have won eight of their last nine but IR has won five of the last six against the Badgers and are 11-2 against them since they first met in 2007. IR is No. 15 in The Open and THS is No. 16.
