My brother Andy and I took our Jet Sports Training Southern Arizona High School Football Preview Show on the road to Canyon del Oro High School, where we talked in depth about the development of the Dorados with coach Dustin Peace.
Peace, 39, is in his 13th year with the Dorados as head coach and 20th overall including his time as an assistant under Pat Nugent. He is closing in on his 100th career victory with a record of 89-45.
His 2009 team with Ka’Deem Carey, Jared Tevis and Josh Robbins went 14-0 with a state championship, and his 2010 team with Carey, Blake Martinez, Robert Metz and David Catalano went 13-1 before losing to Scottsdale Saguaro 41-34 in the championship game.
The Dorados, who host Ironwood Ridge on Friday in a game pitting the Amphi School District rivals, are off to a 1-3 start with a young team that has only eight seniors listed on their roster.
Keep an eye on CDO in the next two seasons at least with former Tucson Youth Football 14U All-Stars Sa’Kylee Woodard, Chase Cassell and Kayden Luke with the Dorados. They were part of the Oro Valley Dolphins’ 13U team that won the TYF city championship in 2019.
Here are the podcasts of the Week 7 preview (in two parts because we had to take a break due to the volume of the music while the cheerleaders at Ironwood Ridge and CDO practiced together on the field heading into a special showing of togetherness at the game Friday).
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.
2A Willcox (5-0) at 2A Tombstone (2-2)
Willcox leads 46-5 dating back to 1950.
2A Morenci (4-1) at 2A Bisbee (3-2)
Morenci leads 22-21 dating back to 1946..
2A Santa Cruz (2-3) at 2A Coolidge (2-3)
Coolidge leads 39-31-1 dating back to 1949.
2A Catalina (1-4) at 2A Sequoia Pathway (3-2)
First meeting.
1A St. David (5-1) at 1A San Manuel (5-0)
St. David beat San Manuel 58-0 last year.
1A Ft. Thomas (1-3) at 1A Valley Union (2-3)
Valley Union leads 18-10 since 1974.
BYE: 4A Mica Mountain (1-0). UNAVAILABLE: 2A Santa Rita (0-4)
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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. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District
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