5A STATE SEMIFINALS: NO. 3 GOODYEAR DESERT EDGE (10-2) AT NO. 2 SALPOINTE (10-2)
WHEN DESERT EDGE HAS THE BALL:
Run percentage: 48.1 (323 rushes)
Pass percentage: 51.9 (348 passes)
Senior quarterback Adryan Lara, a 6-2 and 205-pound Washington State commit, holds the 5A state record with 10,517 career passing yards. He has completed 213 of 337 attempts this season for 2,623 yards with 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He has 116 touchdowns and 41 interceptions in his career. Three of his receivers have at least 48 receptions, which is unreal at the high school level. Gavin Parks, a junior, has 71 catches for 822 yards and 11 touchdowns; Fabian Lopez, a senior, has 56 receptions for 610 yards with four touchdowns; and Vinny Mansfield, a junior, has 48 catches for 704 yards and eight touchdowns. Christopher Cordero, a junior, leads the Scorpions in rushing with 1,147 yards on 164 carries with 11 touchdowns and senior Fabian Lopez has 497 yards on 73 carries with five touchdowns. Salpointe’s defense is loaded with college prospects with leading tackler Joey Sumlin, Kevin Sumlin’s son, a force at middle linebacker. He leads the Lancers with 76 tackles, five for loss, and he has three interceptions. Defensive end Elijah Rushing, a sophomore who has offers from Arizona, Utah, Washington and ASU, has 67 tackles, nine for loss (7.5 sacks), and his brother Cruz Rushing, a senior free safety, has 60 tackles. The defensive backfield is solid with senior cornerback Antonio Martinez (five interceptions) and junior cornerback Jaxson Greene (who has scored touchdowns on interception and fumble returns this season). The Raetzman brothers — junior Conner, a linebacker, and senior Cody, a safety — have combined for 82 tackles, six for loss. Salpointe has 14 interceptions this season.
WHEN SALPOINTE HAS THE BALL:
Run percentage: 60.6 (382 rushes)
Pass percentage: 39.4 (244 passes)
Senior quarterback Treyson Bourguet evolved into more of a dual quarterback this season for coach Eric Rogers passing for 1,780 yards while completing 134 of 222 pass attempts with 27 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He has shown a good burst of speed rushing for 491 yards on 71 carries (6.9 yards a carry) with six touchdowns. The Lancers incredibly have used 18 receivers this season. The top four are junior Gage Felix (31 catches for 451 yards and six touchdowns), senior Dylan Dreis (29 catches for 416 yards and six touchdowns), senior Michael Aguirre (28 receptions for 359 yards and three touchdowns), and Martinez (18 receptions for 265 yards and two touchdowns). Anthony Wilhite III, a senior, has continued Salpointe’s tradition of top-flight running backs rushing for 1,305 yards on 200 carries with 18 touchdowns. The next in line are juniors Dailan Goodman (473 yards on 62 carries with five touchdowns) and junior Elias Roberts (36 rushes for 230 yards and three touchdowns). Desert Edge senior outside linebacker Jamel Jenkins, an accomplished sprinter, tops Desert Edge with 88 tackles, four for loss. Star of the future — sophomore middle linebacker Jaylen Dawson — has 83 tackles with 10 for loss. Another sophomore, defensive end DJ Warner, leads the Scorpions with eight sacks. And yet another sophomore, cornerback Aundre Gibson, is tied for the team lead with four interceptions. Nate Manzanarez, a junior linebacker who had a pick-6 against Desert View last week in a 31-13 win, also has four interceptions. Desert Edge has totaled an impressive 20 interceptions this season, six returned for touchdowns.
COMMON OPPONENT
Desert View: Salpointe beat the Jaguars 48-0 on the road Oct. 15 and Desert Edge defeated Desert View 31-13 last week at home.
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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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