Southern Arizona High School Pigskin Playoffs Update

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STAR OF THE NIGHT

ALEX BELL, QB, SABINO

Sabino dual threat QB Alex Bell was responsible for four of the Sabercats’ touchdowns Saturday night (YouTube video capture)

Sabino junior quarterback Alex Bell rushed for a 43-yard touchdown and three for three other scores in the Sabercats’ 45-7 win over Safford. Bell had a 13-yard strike to Andrew Carlson for the Sabercats’ first TD. The two hooked up again on a 10-yard scoring passing play to put the Sabercats up 14-7 going into halftime.

Bell threw his third TD of the game with a 125-yard connection with Arizona commit Drew Dixon in the third quarter. Dixon also rushed for a 15-yard TD in the third quarter.

Bell completed 15 of 20 pass attempts for 159 yards and he also rushed for 168 yards on 12 carries. He eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing this season in the game. He is at 1,070 yards in 157 carries this season.

Dixon finished with 34 yards on seven carries. He completed one of his eight pass attempts for 38 yards. As a receiver, he tied Carlsen with a team-high six receptions. Dixon had 60 receiving yards while Carlsen had 82.

Sabino (10-1) finished with 494 yards of total offense. The Sabercats host No. 13 seed Winslow, which upset No. 4 seed Monument Valley 40-6 on the road tonight, in a quarterfinal game of the Class 3A playoffs next Saturday at 6.

TONIGHT

FIRST ROUND MATCHUPS

CLASS 3A

No. 12 Safford (5-6) at No. 5 Sabino (10-1)
— Sabino 45-7 F

No. 10 Pusch Ridge (7-4) at No. 7 Phoenix Northwest Christian (9-2)
— NW Christian 28-21 F

CLASS 2A

No. 16 Bisbee (4-7) at No. 1 Round Valley (11-0)
— Round Valley 72-0 F

No. 12 Tombstone (6-5) at No. 5 Benson (9-2)
— Benson 63-25 F

No. 14 Chandler Prep (8-3) at No. 3 Thatcher (9-2)
— Thatcher 57-6 F

No. 15 Alchesay (7-4) at No. 2 Santa Cruz Valley (10-0)
— Santa Cruz 64-0 F

CLASS 1A

SEMIFINAL

No. 4 St. David (7-3) vs. No. 1 Bagdad (10-0), Maricopa High School
— Bagdad 54-12 F

CLASS 5A

QUARTERFINALS

Thursday

No. 9 Mesquite (8-3) at No. 1 Cienega (11-0), 7 p.m.

No. 6 Queen Creek (9-2) at No. 3 Ironwood Ridge (9-2), 7 p.m.

No. 7 Marana (9-2) at No. 2 Williams Field (11-0), 7 p.m.

CLASS 4A

QUARTERFINALS

Thursday

No. 6 Catalina Foothills (9-2) at No. 3 Sunrise Mountain (10-1), 7 p.m.

No. 5 Marcos de Niza (8-3) at No. 4 Salpointe (9-2), 7 p.m.

CLASS 3A

Saturday

No. 13 Winslow (7-4) at No. 5 Sabino (10-1), 6 p.m.

CLASS 2A

Saturday

No. 5 Benson (9-2) at No. 4 Pima (9-2), 6 p.m.

No. 6 Phoenix Christian (10-1) at No. 3 Thatcher (9-2), 6 p.m.

No. 10 Scottsdale Christian (9-2) at No. 2 Santa Cruz Valley (10-0), 6 p.m.

NOTABLE:

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— Dakota Haynes scored on a 63-yard run for Pusch Ridge early in the first quarter. Haynes scored two more touchdown runs to finish three in Pusch Ridge’s loss.

— Sabino’s Alex Bell rushed for a 42-yard touchdown and three for four more in Sabino’s game with Safford.

— Bell had a 13-yard strike to Andrew Carlson for the Sabercats’ first TD. The two hooked up again on a 10-yard scoring passing play to put the Sabercats up 14-7 in the second quarter.

— Bell threw his third TD of the game with a 15-yard connection with Arizona commit Drew Dixon in the third quarter. His fourth scoring strike was a 22-yard pass to Dixon in the third quarter.

— Sabino’s Isaiah Smotherman scored on a 1-yard run to increase the lead to 35-7

— Sabercats PK Bennett Nottingham made a 32-yard field goal to increase their lead to 45-7.

— Luke Moran had an interception for Sabino in the fourth quarter.

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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.