Marana football’s secret sauce to win its first state title since the 1960s is paintball and movies.
Last year, the Tigers went 10-0 in the regular season, but their playoff campaign ended after one game. No. 1 seed Marana lost 31-22 to Class 6A Chandler Hamilton in the Open first round.
No. 8 seed Hamilton’s only loss in the regular season was to Open No. 2 Chandler Basha, which finished second.
“So the offseason wasn’t too bad actually, the offseason was us trying to find out who we were as a team,” said Marana head coach Phillip Steward. “One thing I kept preaching to them is we’re not that team from last year, we’re not that team, we’re our own team and we have to play like that.”
Marana’s head coach Phillip Steward hands out hat pats to the Tigers during a time out huddle in the game against Canyon del Oro, September 19, 2025, Tucson, Ariz.
He said they constantly preach “family.”
“This summer we did a lot of team bonding, one thing we do preach is family over here,” the former LA Ram said. “We went paintballing, we went to the movies, we did a lot of stuff as a team and I think if we keep gelling that’s what’s going to help push us over in the playoffs.”
This season, 5A opted out of the Open (after 4A did the year before), so if the Tigers (3-1) win out, they’ll be playing other 5A sides in the postseason.
“I think it was a good choice by the AIA,” said Marana senior quarterback Colten Meyer. “Now we get to see who the best 5A team is and then who’s the best 6A/Open team, whatever you want to call it.”
Marana’s Colten Meyer (16) scrambles around the pursuit to get off a throw in the second quarter against Canyon del Oro on Sept. 19, 2025.
Meyer is third in the state (across all conferences) in passing with 1,278 yards. He’s also eighth in total yards.
In 5A, junior receiver/defensive back Sean Roebuck is ninth in receiving (335 yards) and junior receiver/defensive back Jaxsun Sharp is 10th (321 yards).
Marana won the 1964, 1967 and 1968 B state championships.
Steward has mixed feelings about the Open changes.
“I really didn’t care for it because all I got to tell my boys was to be the best, you got to play the best, so whatever they would have done with it, we would have been fine with it,” Steward said. “Now that they doing what they doing, people keep saying, ‘they should have did that last year.’
“Like I said, we felt like we were the best team and we wanted the best, we came up short, but we moved past that and if we have to do it again, we’re probably going to do it again.”
The Tigers lost a slew of talent from last year, like Dezmen Roebuck, who is third on Washington in receiving and started in the Huskies’ win at Washington State on Saturday.
Still, Marana is averaging 385 yards and 32.8 points per game.
“We had a lot of guys leave to college and some guys were just gone,” Meyer said. “So we had to have a good offseason in the weight room and on the field with 7-on-7 and I think our receivers really had a good offseason, so that obviously was a big boost for us.”
Marana opened with a 20-18 loss at 6A Salpointe Catholic, where Meyer was a few yards from running in the game-winning touchdown.
After a couple blowout wins, including 47-14 at recently moved up former 4A state power Yuma Catholic, the Tigers open region play with a 24-3 win over Canyon del Oro.
Marana’s Sean Roebuck (5) jumps in front of Canyon del Oro’s Jayden Smith (2) to snare an interception in the second quarter, Sept. 19, 2025.
“Coming in after that 10-0 season, it felt great, just because I know that we were up at that high level,” said Marana senior lineman Chase Munson. “But after that Salpointe game, it kind of dropped it, but I still felt very proud about my team and very proud of where we’re at right now.”
Last year, the other 5A schools in the Open were eliminated in the first round by scores like 64-26 and 36-14.
This season, there won’t be a weekly question of what playoff bracket it will be in. Marana knows what it is playing for.
“That means that we can win the state championship,” Munson said about the Open closing.
