Scott McKee has Sahuaro back where they belong. (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

4A SEMIFINAL at Mountain View: Friday, Nov. 16
No. 1 Salpointe 53, No. 5 Sahuaro 6

4A CHAMPIONSHIP at ARIZONA STADIUM: Friday, Nov. 30
No. 1 Salpointe vs. No. 2 Saguaro, 7 p.m.

3A SEMIFINAL at Shadow Mountain: Saturday, Nov. 17
No. 6 Sabino vs. No. 2 Yuma Catholic, 6 p.m.

…..The Cougars will lose Cameron Williams to graduation but Scott McKee has a roster full of juniors ready to carry on from here. Williams performed well in the two losses to Salpointe this year. The athlete rushed for 118 yards against the Lancers in late September and he caught a 99-yard touchdown pass where he outran leaner DBs down the length of the field. At 6-feet and 200 pounds, Williams was a Southern Arizona APS Digital Print/Tucson Conquistadores Player of the Week honoree and is on the state-wide Ed Doherty Watch List for a reason.

On the other side, the Lancers are stacked with juniors and one of the best seniors in the state and it mostly starts with junior athlete Bijan Robinson. But, as Robinson himself would note, it’s all a team effort on a team that is mostly defined as “athletes” rather than by position.

Lathan Ransom set the tone on defense against Sahuaro with an 8-yard sack on the Cougar’s opening drive to force a punt and then Robinson followed that up with a 35-yard run to put the Lancers up 7-0. That was as close as the game would get.

Robinson cashed in on a 58-yard scoring run, a 15-vard score and a 2-yard run to end the night with 161 yards rushing and four TDs. In doing so, the highly recruited standout passed former Arizona Player of the Year Cam Denson’s career TD record at Salpointe. Denson finished his career with 32 touchdowns and Robinson has 35 with a whole year ahead of him still…..

GAME STORY AT AZPREPS365.COM

Mario Padilla, CJ Franks, Lathan Ransom & Bijan Robinson. (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and he has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy is the Southern Arizona voting member of the Ed Doherty Award, recognizing the top football player in Arizona, and he was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com