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No. 24
CHAMPIONSHIP: Class 4A
SCORE: Sabino 28, Phoenix Washington 3
DATE: December 4, 1992
SITE: Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe
GAME SUMMARY: Sabino and its tough defense and dominating running game finished off a perfect 14-0 season under Jeff Scurran against Phoenix Washington (12-2), remarkably preventing the Rams from getting inside the Sabercat 20 after the first quarter.
It was the second state title in three years for Sabino and Scurran.
Sabino recorded three interceptions and Washington’s top rusher — Boo Reilly — had 56 yards on 11 carries, one of which was a 33-yard run that set up the Rams’ field goal in the first quarter.
Washington ran for 122 yards overall, while Sabino tallied 302 behind Corey Hill’s 129 on 10 rushes — his 10th straight game with at least 100 yards rushing. Brandon Bolton, who finished with 77 yards on 17 carries, ran for three touchdowns. Chase Newell added 64 yards on 13 carries.
The three touchdowns tied a state-championship record set by Agua Fria’s Darryl Porter against Safford in 1990.
Sabino passed the ball only once.
The Sabercats seized the momentum scoring late in the first half to take a 14-3 halftime lead and putting together a touchdown drive to start the second half. Hill’s 52-yard run set up Bolton’s 5-yard run for the score before halftime and Kenny Sarnoski’s interception — his second of the game — led to a 44-yard scoring drive capped by Bolton’s 1-yard scoring plunge to start the second half.
Hill finished the scoring in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-2 play at the Washington 34. He went off-tackle, broke through the line of scrimmage, escaped one tackler and carried a defensive back the last four yards to increase the lead to 28-3.
THEY SAID IT: “We just have a good defense without a weakness. I don’t know if I’ll ever be fortunate enough to have a group of kids like this. There’s just not a weak spot out there. Everybody on defense made great plays.” — Sabino coach Jeff Scurran to the Tucson Citizen.
DID YOU KNOW: Kenny Sarnoski is now co-owner with his wife Linda of The Screamery hand-crafted ice cream parlor located in Tucson and the Phoenix area. … Corey Hill went on to be a starting cornerback at Stanford and he graduated from there with a finance degree. He earned a master’s degree at Arizona from the Eller College of Management and went on to be an international marketing expert for Nike. He is now the senior director head of global marketing for Oakley, a position he’s held since 2020. He resides near Portland, Ore.
BOXSCORE (printed in Tucson Citizen):
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