Tucson High School Sports

Tucson Conquistadores Southern Arizona High School Football Rewind: Results, Top Performers in Opening Round of 2A-5A State Playoffs

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CLASS 5A

Cienega 27, Phoenix Sunnyslope 24

UP NEXT: The No. 7 Bobcats (9-2) travel to No. 2 Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep (10-1) for a quarterfinal game Friday at 7 p.m.

Cienega top performers:

— QB Ryan Swoger 7 of 10 passes completed for 79 yards with a TD.

— RB Gabe Levy had 12 carries for 79 yards.

— WR/S Sebastian Felix had two interceptions, including one to stop Sunnyslope’s last scoring threat, and also had a touchdown reception as a receiver in the fourth quarter. He also had a 20-yard run, 22-yard kickoff return and punted five times for an average of 38 yards.

Cienega coach Pat Nugent talks to his team after last night’s win over Sunnyslope (Javier Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

Sunrise Mountain 49, Buena 36

Buena finished its season 8-3 overall. The game marked the end of the illustrious high school career of quarterback/safety Jovoni Borbon. He completed 12 of 22 passes last night for 201 yards with a touchdown and interception. He also rushed for three touchdowns. He finished the season completing 83 of 155 passes for 1,547 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. He rushed for 694 yards on 116 carries with 17 touchdowns. As a safety, he intercepted six passes this season. Borbon finished his career with 5,666 passing yards with 46 touchdowns.

Other Buena top performers

— RB Tory Walters had 112 yards on 18 carries.

— RB Jesse Marquez rushed for 84 yards on 14 carries. He also had 65 yards receiving on three catches.

— LB Jesse Avina had a tackle for loss among his seven tackles. The senior finished with 17 tackles for loss this season, 84 overall.

Casteel 41, Ironwood Ridge 14

Ironwood Ridge finishes its first season under coach James Hardy Jr. 5-6 after winning four straight games before losing its last three games. Entering the postseason, senior RB Brandon Barrios had a breakout season with 1,387 yards on 222 carries with 15 touchdowns. He is receiving scholarship offers from schools such as Concordia-Chicago, Concordia-Wisconsin and Whitworth University. He also told me last week he is considering walking on at Arizona with a potential academic scholarship.

Williams Field 56, Mountain View 25

Mountain View, the 5A Sonoran champions, finished its season 6-5 under new coach Matt Johnson, who is one of the longer tenured coaches in Southern Arizona completing his 16th year as a head coach. His career record is 119-66. QB Giovanni Ciaccio will return for his senior season after not throwing an interception in the regular season this year. He had 463 yards passing. The Mountain Lions had five running backs with at least 200 yards led by senior RB Aaron Logsdon’s 470 yards on 54 carries.

CLASS 4A

Sahuaro 46, Glendale 25

UP NEXT: The No. 1 Cougars (9-2) host No. 9 Gila Ridge (10-1) in a quarterfinal game Friday at 7 p.m.

Sahuaro top performers:

— RB Izaiah Davis rushed for 189 yards and a TD.

— RB Jamir Gasaway rushed for 187 yards and three TDs.

— RB Trevion Watkins added 145 yards rushing and three more TDs.

Izaiah Davis of Sahuaro cracked 1,000 yards rushing on the season (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

Note: The Cougars are close to having three running backs each reaching the 1,000-yard mark in the same year. Davis is at 1,120 yards, Gasaway is at 963 and Watkins is at 773. Davis is a senior. Gasaway and Watkins are juniors.

“We worked really hard because we are like family,” Davis said. “We feel it’s us against the world so we stick together as a team.”

Marcos de Niza 13, Canyon del Oro 7

RB Stevie Rocker, a junior, scored the lone touchdown for No. 3 CDO on a 3-yard run in the upset loss to No. 14 Tempe Marcos de Niza. The Dorados, who were No. 10 in the Open Division rankings with two games left in the regular season, end their season 8-3. Rocker, who missed the first five games with an ankle injury, will return next season after gaining 276 yards on 57 carries in the regular season. Also returning for his senior season is QB Montana Neustadter, who passed for 452 yards and rushed for 536 yards in the regular season. Graduating is RB Gavin Davis, who had 701 yards on 120 rushes during the regular season and was a Godsend for coach Dustin Peace with Rocker out an extended period of time.

Casa Grande 26, Walden Grove 19

The Red Wolves finished their season 9-2, the most wins in a season in program history (extending to 2012). Corey Noble is 24-9 in his three years as Walden Grove’s head coach. Gone next year will be twin-brother sensations QB Alex Lopez (2,108 passing yards and 852 rushing yards in the regular season) and WR Jordan Lopez (734 yards receiving). The Red Wolves also lose top defenders LB Rick Avelar III (16.5 tackles for loss) and DT Thomas Welky ( 7.0 sacks). RB Stephen Brower Jr. (501 yards rushing), WR Ty McDermott (489 receiving yards) and LB Sebastian Adamski (118 tackles, 11.5 for loss) return for their senior seasons.

Mesquite 21, Pueblo 6

Pueblo ended it season 8-3 with the tough loss at Mesquite. The Warriors scored their lone TD on a 1-yard run by Edgar Lopez in the second quarter. Coach Brandon Sanders will lose prolific RB/LB Julian Lopez (1,237 yards rushing and 53 tackles in the regular season) to graduation and also QB Marcelino Vega. DB Enrique Cancio, only a sophomore, had four interceptions for the Warriors. Sanders completed his sixth season at Pueblo with an overall record of 41-22.

CLASS 3A

Sabino 30, Safford 19

Sabino QB A.J. Skaggs (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

UP NEXT: The No. 10 Sabercats (8-3) will travel to play No. 2 American Leadership Academy-Queen Creek (10-1) in a quarterfinal game Friday at 7 p.m.

Sabino top performers:

— QB A.J. Skaggs completed 17 of 25 passes for 280 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

— RB Andrew Owen rushed for 65 yards on 11 carries.

— RB Ken Blackman carried the ball 12 times for 64 yards.

— WR Diego Armijo had five catches for 118 yards and two TDs.

— LB Marceise Stubblefield led the Sabercats with 11 tackles.

CLASS 2A

Santa Cruz Valley 39, Chandler Prep 6

UP NEXT: The No. 4 Dust Devils (9-2) will host No. 5 Parker (10-1) in a quarterfinal game Friday at 7 p.m.

Santa Cruz Valley top performers:

— RB Steve Calvin scored runs of 12 and 24 yards.

— RB Hunter Ogle had a 2-yard TD run.

— QB Austin Hukill connected with WR David Avilez for a 22-yard TD.

Benson 63, Veritas 19

UP NEXT: The No. 9 Bobcats (8-3) will travel to No. 1 Eagar Round Valley (8-2) in a quarterfinal game Friday at 7 p.m. Round Valley is coached by former Arizona linebacker great Marcus Bell.

Benson top performers:

— RB Carson Barney had four touchdown runs, including a 74-yard run.

— FB Jace Barney, a sophomore, scored twice on the ground.

Thatcher 48, Bisbee 7

Bisbee’s season came to an end with an 8-3 record. The lone touchdown scored Friday was by WR/DB Dano Lopez, one of the Pumas’ best players this season. Lopez, a senior, finished the regular season with 866 yards receiving on 52 catches with eight touchdowns. He also had three interceptions on defense. Bisbee also loses to graduation QB R.J. Wright (1,165 passing yards with 13 TDs and three interceptions) and RB Hunter Perry (1,386 yards on 168 carries).


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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.

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