ACCESS ALLSPORTSTUCSON.COM’s SERIES LOOKING AT ALL THE LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCHEDULES BY CLICKING HERE
2A
Willcox Cowboys
2021 RECORD: 8-3
- Former Arizona football player Erik Hjalmarson is now in his third season at Willcox and excitement comes with that after last season’s 8-3 record that included a trip to the 2A state playoffs where the Cowboys beat Holbrook before losing to Parker in the quarterfinals. Halmarson has one of the best football players in the state — senior Cristian Pando, who rushed for more than 1,600 yards and recorded a team-high 90 tackles.
- Willcox’s non-region schedule is a very tough one, all against playoff teams last year. The schedule starts Aug. 26 with 10 straight weeks of football afterward (the “bye” week starts the season on Aug. 19). The Cowboys open against Gilbert Christian, which went 9-3 and lost to Morenci in the 2A state quarterfinals. The next game is at former region rival Benson, which moved up to 3A after going to the state championship game and semifinals the last two years. Sequioa Pathway, which went 7-4 and lost in the first round of the 2A state playoffs, is next at home Sept. 9. Next is a game Sept. 16 at Morenci, which finished 11-3 and lost in the 2A state title game. The last non-region game is at home against another former region foe — Pima — on Sept. 23. Pima advanced to the first round of the 2A state playoffs last year.
- Willcox’s 2A San Pedro schedule includes road games against Bisbee (Sept. 30) and Santa Rita (Oct. 7) at the start and then home games against Tombstone (Oct. 14) and Catalina (Oct. 21). The season ends with good matchup at Tanque Verde on Oct. 28.
FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
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.