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St. David wins key 1A South game, Tanque Verde to play Gila Ridge Friday

By Javier Morales

Posted on September 29, 2021

St. David won an important 1A South game against visiting Baboquivari on Tuesday night by a score of 51-6, setting up an anticipated regional showdown with unbeaten San Manuel on the road Friday.

Also on Tuesday, 2A Rillito team Tanque Verde (3-2) added 4A West Valley’s Yuma Gila Ridge (0-3) to its home schedule on Friday after Santa Rita was forced to cancel its matchup with Jay Dobyns’ team because of a lack of healthy players.

Gila Ridge is coached by Jessica Slaughter, the first female head coach of a big-school varsity football team in Arizona Interscholastic Association history. Gila Ridge, also nicknamed the Hawks, was looking to add a 10th opponent after its season opener with Kofa was canceled because of COVID-19 protocol.

Give GR and Coach Slaughter all the credit. Our kids get to play Friday because of them/her. https://t.co/MX44dVJLOj

— Tanque Verde Hawks Football (@HawksVerde) September 28, 2021

Also significant to this development is Class of 2023 lineman Jack Endean will not miss another week. The Division I Power 5 prospect, who has offers from Arizona and Cal, is eligible for the first time after sitting out the first five games per AIA’s transfer rules after coming from Salpointe.

St. David (5-1, 4-0 1A South) will travel to San Manuel (5-0, 3-0) on Friday in a game that should decide the region championship. The Tigers have only one 1A South game remaining after this game and the Miners have two.

In Tuesday’s win over Baboquivari (2-2, 2-2), St. David took a 30-0 lead in the first quarter and cruised to the win. The game was rescheduled from the season-opening date of Aug. 20 because Baboquivari was under COVID-19 protocol at that time.

St. David junior quarterback Ryan Gooding completed 7 of 8 passes for 200 yards with three touchdowns.

Talon Haynie, a senior, and Conner Curtis, a junior, each rushed for 68 yards. Haynie had three rushing touchdowns and Curtis one. Haynie also caught three passes for 71 yards and senior Cody Didion had a 68-yard touchdown reception.

Haynie, also a linebacker, had eight tackles with two for loss, and he had an interception. Curtis, a linebacker as well, had nine tackles, one for loss.

Senior linebacker Brayden Merrill led the Tigers with 14 tackles, three for loss, and fellow linebacker Bobcat Pacheco tallied 10 tackles, two for loss.

The slate of Week 7 games:

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

4A Douglas (1-1) at 4A Casa Grande (3-0)
Casa Grande leads the series 4-2-1 from 1954 to 1990. This is the first game in 31 years.

2A Pima (3-2) at 2A Benson (3-1)
Benson leads 17-7 dating back to 1949.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1

6A Tucson (0-3) at 5A Rincon/UHS (1-2)
Tucson leads 28-8-1. Rincon has lost the last seven dating back to 2008.

6A Mountain Pointe (2-2) at 5A Buena (1-2)
Mountain Pointe won both games played in 2011 and 2012.

5A Salpointe (3-0) at 5A Saguaro (2-1)
Saguaro knocked Salpointe out in the semifinal round in 2016 and in the 2017 and 2018 state championship games. The two teams were supposed to play in the first round of the Open Division last year but the Sabercats had to forfeit due to COVID.

5A Sunnyside (3-1) at 5A Cholla (1-3)
Sunnyside leads 25-1 from 1972 to 2012. Cholla won in 1984.

5A Desert View (3-0) at 5A Marana (4-0)
Marana leads 10-8 but Desert View won the last game in 2018. The winner of this game might have enough points to qualify for the Open Division.

5A Notre Dame (1-2) at 5A Mountain View (1-2)
First meeting.

5A Flowing Wells (1-3) at 5A Nogales (2-1)
Flowing Wells leads 24-13-2 from 1959 to 2010.

5A Campo Verde (1-3) at 5A Cienega (1-2)
First meeting.

5A Ironwood Ridge (2-2) at 4A Canyon del Oro (1-3)
Ironwood Ridge leads 9-3 from 2005 including the last seven in a row.

4A Marcos de Niza (2-2) at 4A Amphitheater (2-1)
Marcos de Niza won in 1999 and Amphi won in 2000.

4A Arcadia (1-3) at 4A Pueblo (2-1)
First meeting.

4A Walden Grove (2-2) at 4A Deer Valley (3-0)
First meeting.

4A Catalina Foothills (1-3) at 3A Pusch Ridge (4-1)
Teams are tied 1-1 since 2016.

4A Rio Rico (0-3) at 3A Sahuarita (0-5)
Sahuarita leads 17-1 since 1997. Rio Rico won in 2010.

4A Gila Ridge (0-3) at 2A Tanque Verde (3-2)
First meeting.

3A Sabino (3-2) at 4A Sahuaro (0-2)
Sabino leads 29-17 since 1974.

3A Thatcher (4-1) at 4A Empire (2-2)
Empire leads 2-1 from 2009 to 2015.