Week 10 of the high school football season is upon us with Salpointe defeating Mica Mountain on Thursday night, and a slate of some top games in Southern Arizona in store on Friday.
One of them is CDO riding a four-game winning streak into its 4A Kino game at Pueblo. The Dorados are 4-3 overall and ranked No. 18 in the state in 4A after their opening win in 4A Kino play last week at Walden Grove.
CDO’s emergence after an 0-3 start boils down to these reasons:
— Coaching of Dustin Peace, who is 92-43 in his 13th season, and knows what it takes to build a championship team with Division I talent.
— Emergence of junior quarterback Caden Dawes (6-foot-2 and 195 pounds) who has passed for 823 yards while completing 39 of 71 passes with nine touchdowns and only one interception.
— The play of talented Class of 2024 standouts Sa’Kylee Woodard on both lines, running back Kayden Luke and defensive back/receiver Chance Cassel. All three have Division I potential, according to Peace, who knows one when he sees one after coaching the likes of Ka’Deem Carey, Blake Martinez, Jared Tevis, Stevie Rocker Jr., etc.
Some other top games to watch include:
5A No. 3 Desert View at 5A No. 26 Mountain View — Can the Jaguars bounce back and strengthen their high ranking in 5A after last week’s loss to Salpointe against an always-dangerous Mountain View team coached by Matt Johnson?
5A No. 14 Sunnyside at 5A No. 24 Ironwood Ridge — Essentially an elimination game in the 5A Sonoran region.
4A No. 17 Amphi at 4A No. 29 Catalina Foothills — Will the Panthers keep surging toward a 4A state playoff spot behind talented running back Kiko Trejo?
3A No. 9 Thatcher at 3A No. 8 Pusch Ridge — The Lions must beat Thatcher to keep the 3A South race alive otherwise Thatcher could improve to 3-0 in region play.
3A No. 11 Safford at 3A No. 10 Sabino — Ryan McBrayer’s team must win to have a shot at the 3A South title and automatic bid into the state playoffs.
2A No. 5 Willcox at 2A No. 8 Morenci — How will Willcox fare in its toughest test of the season by far?
2A No. 21 Santa Cruz at 2A No. 17 Tanque Verde — Can Santa Cruz continue its push to another state playoff appearance after winning the state title last year?
THURSDAY’S GAME
5A No. 5 Salpointe 56, 4A NR Mica Mountain 5
FRIDAY’S GAMES
6A CONFERENCE
No. 24 Cesar Chavez (4-2) at No. 37 Tucson (1-5)
5A CONFERENCE
No. 3 Desert View (5-1) at No. 26 Mountain View (2-4)
No. 10 Marana (5-1) at No. 42 Rincon/UHS (1-5)
No. 14 Sunnyside (4-2) at No. 24 Ironwood Ridge (2-4)
No. 33 Nogales (3-3) at No. 17 Cienega (3-3)
No. 28 Flowing Wells (3-4) at No. 30 Buena (1-4)
4A CONFERENCE
No. 17 Amphitheater (4-1) at No. 29 Catalina Foothills (2-4)
No. 18 Canyon del Oro (4-3) at No. 35 Pueblo (3-3)
No. 7 Casa Grande (6-0) at No. 31 Walden Grove (2-5)
No. 32 Empire (3-4) at No. 33 Douglas (1-4)
No. 10 Buckeye (4-2) at No. 41 Sahuaro (0-5)
3A CONFERENCE
No. 9 Thatcher (6-2) at No. 8 Pusch Ridge (6-2)
No. 11 Safford (6-2) at No. 10 Sabino (5-2)
No. 32 Sahuarita (1-6) at No. 23 Florence (3-5)
2A CONFERENCE
No. 3 Benson (5-2) at No. 29 Tombstone (2-5)
No. 5 Willcox (7-0) at No. 8 Morenci (6-1)
No. 21 Santa Cruz (4-4) at No. 17 Tanque Verde (4-3)
No. 6 Pima (5-2) at No. 26 Bisbee (3-5)
No. 15 Sequoia Pathway (5-3) at No. 37 Santa Rita (1-5)
No. 22 Trivium Prep (3-4) at No. 43 Catalina (0-7)
1A FOOTBALL FIRST ROUND
No. 12 Tempe Prep (7-1) at No. 5 San Manuel (7-1)
No. 11 Valley Union (4-4) at No. 6 Hayden (4-3)
BYES: 5A No. 40 Cholla (1-4); 4A No. 45 Rio Rico (0-5).
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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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