Ahead of the organization’s 20th anniversary season covering Arizona high school sports, MaxPreps named its top 25 football programs, with two Southern Arizona programs making the cut.
Tucson-area schools Salpointe Catholic checked in at No. 9 and Canyon del Oro was 21st. MaxPreps rated the Grand Canyon State’s schools based on top 25 finishes in their rankings, top 25 finishes in their national rankings, state championships and state total game appearances.
Salpointe earned 244 points, well ahead of No. 10 Glendale Cactus who had 218 and 34 behind No. 8 Phoenix Mountain Pointe. Salpointe had one state championship (2013), three state runner ups and 16 Arizona top 25 finishes, led by its second in 2013.
CDO tied for No. 21 with Goodyear Desert Edge with 150 points, 20 ahead of No. 23 Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep and three behind Yuma Catholic who the Lancers beat in the state championship game last year. CDO won two state titles (2009 also), finished second twice and in the state top 25 six times, with seventh in 2010 being the program’s best finish.
Salpointe Catholic head coach Dennis Bene pumps his fists in the air in front of the Lancer fans as the seconds tick down during and the Lancers secured victory in the Arizona Division II State High School Football Championship game between Salpointe and Scottsdale Chaparral and on Nov. 29, 2013, at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.
“It’s awesome you don’t normally see a 4A team with the top 6A, 5A schools out there in Arizona,” CDO senior defensive end Evan Greer said. “So I’m just happy that we get that recognition.”
Scottsdale Saguaro was first with 736 points, well ahead of No. 2 Chandler with 704. Saguaro won 13 state titles, finished second twice, in the Arizona top 25 18 times and nationally ranked twice.
Canyon del Oro head coach Scott McKee, who is entering his 20th season as a head coach but first with CDO, agreed that high school football has gotten better in Arizona, producing more NCAA players like Dorado alumni Sa’Kylee Woodard (New Mexico) and Kayden Luke (Arizona).
“I think football’s gotten better, once the Covid years got away, I think people appreciate the game more than they did before because it was taken away,” said McKee, who played at Arizona from 1999 to 2002. “But I’d like to continue to see more kids get placed, I don’t think colleges recruit Arizona as well as they should, there’s really good players — Kayden Luke is a walk on, that’s the best football player in the state of Arizona and he’s a walk on, so it would be nice to more of those guys get a ride.”
Schedule audibles
A couple local schools had to make late changes to their schedules.
Salpointe was originally going to play Bishop Alemany (Mission Hills, California) on Sept. 6 but the Warriors retreated from a return leg of a home and home. Bishop Alemany, led by former Tennessee quarterback Casey Clausen, had been producing Power Four-caliber players like UA redshirt freshman Rhino Tapa’atoutai, but have fallen on hard times of late, going 1-9 last season, including a 52-21 loss to Salpointe at home.
Salpointe tried and was unable to find a replacement for the school that’s also named for an 1800s Archbishop, according to All Sports Tucson.
On social media the Lancers asked if any schools had an opening on Sept. 27. If Salpointe can’t get a 10th game it will only have three games from Aug. 30 to Oct. 4.
At Pueblo, the Warriors had to move their season against Nogales opener to Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. due to the shortage of officials. In recent years more and more varsity games have been moved from the Friday night lights, usually to Thursdays.
Berryhills won’t face Salpointe
All Sports Tucson also reported recently that the Berryhill brothers won’t play in Peoria Centennial’s game against Salpointe on Sept. 19.
Along with their brother Savaughn Berryhill, a senior receiver/strong safety last season, senior receiver/defensive back Shamar Berryhill and sophomore reciever/cornerback Romeo Berryhill helped lead Sabino to the state championship last season. Their older brother Stanley Berryhill III plays for the BC Lions after playing for the Detroit Lions and UA after going high school at Orange (Calif.) Lutheran and Marana Mountain View.
Their father, Stanley Berryhill Jr., starred at Cholla.
After moving to the Phoenix area the Berryhills could have appealed the five-game ban that comes with transferring but elected not to.
Meanwhile, Salpointe dropped Surprise Valley Vista from its schedule after the Lancers beat the Monsoon 50-6 and added Centennial, who were ranked No. 4 in those aforementioned MaxPreps rankings of top Arizona programs of the last two decades. The Coyotes have won seven state championships in that 20-year span.
Welcome back
This season marks the return of Santa Rita to the varsity ranks and 1A football to Tucson (hopefully).
In 2022 after staring the season 0-5 and three straight forfeits, Santa Rita canceled the rest of the season. Then last season the Eagles only played JV.
SR has a bye this week but is set to return to varsity play on Aug. 30 when it hosts Globe.
Santa Rita was a 4A power as recently as the 2000s but the school has seen its enrollment drop to 352 according to the AIA’s latest numbers. The Eagles went 34-7 from 2007-09 and reached the 4A Division II state championship game under head coach Jeff Scurran but since 2009 haven’t won more than three games in a season.
In 1A Desert Christian is supposed to debut its football team this season. However the Arizona Republic reported that the the Eagles had to forfeit their game at Bagdad this week due to injuries sustained in their scrimmage. 1A football is 8-man.
If it’s able, DC’s first game will then be at home against Glendale Desert Heights Prep.
The new football field/soccer pitch at the school’s Speedway campus is part of a $20.5 million expansion for Desert Christian. DC has long been a small school/fall soccer power, having reached the state final eight times, winning it all in 1996 and 1997.
Sabino High School football coach Ryan McBrayer holds up the Class 3A state championship trophy for his Sabercats after they defeated Surprise Paradise Honors 68-46 on Nov. 25, 2023, earning the first football title by a Southern Arizona school since 2015.
Small schools kick off season
Although it’s a mere appetizer, Friday sees the start of high school football in Arizona.
Classes 3A to 1A open their season though some schools like Pusch Ridge Christian have a bye.
Out of the three games this week, two are in the northeast with Sabino opening its title defense and Tanque Verde, coming off its best season ever, starting the season about 10 minutes away from each other.
Class 3A: Coolidge (5-5*) at Sabino (11-3*)
Location: 5000 N. Bowes Road.
Notable: Last year the Sabercats whipped the Bears 55-28. Coolidge opens the season with three straight road games and four of this first away from home while Sabino plays five of its first six in the Tucson area, with four of those being at home.
Class 2A: Catalina (3-7*) at Surprise Highland Prep (3-7*)
Location: 15600 W. Hearn Road, Surprise.
Notable: Andy Fetsis makes his Catalina coaching debut against the Honey Badgers. Fetsis, who will still coach tennis at Pusch Ridge, has led PRCA girls tennis to three state championships and a second place finish and the Lions’ boys tennis to a team state title and two team runner ups including last year.
Class 2A: Phoenix Christian (8-3*) at Tanque Verde (9-3*)
Location: 4201 N. Melpomene Way.
Notable: Last season Tanque Verde (whose program started in 2007) beat Phoenix Christian 19-6 to earn its first ever win over the Cougars. PC won their first two games against TV 63-6 in 2011 and 64-18 in 2012 according to azfootballarchives.com.
* = 2023 records
