It took three years post-COVID-19 for a high school football game in Southern Arizona to be of the highest magnitude. No. 3 Mica Mountain at No. 2 CDO on Friday is the best of its kind since 2017 when Jamarye Joiner and Cienega — coached by Mica Mountain’s Pat Nugent at the time — beat Marana and Trenton Bourguet twice in two thrillers, including in the playoffs, and also defeated Salpointe that year in what was the last time the Lancers have lost to a Tucson-area team. … Mica Mountain and CDO are each 6-0 and rated only behind No. 1 Yuma Catholic in the 4A power ratings that were released Tuesday. The matchup has storylines galore:
— CDO coach Dustin Peace played for Nugent at Flowing Wells before joining Nugent’s staff at CDO. After Peace returned to Tucson following a short career at NAU, cut short because of a neck injury, Nugent welcomed him on his staff after Nugent became coach at CDO. While attending Arizona, Peace coached under Nugent starting in 2002 and was soon thereafter elevated to defensive coordinator with the Dorados. He became head coach in 2009 when Nugent became Pima College’s coach. With the program in tremendous shape left by Nugent, CDO won a state title in 2009 under Peace and finished runner-up in 2010. Peace is 0-3 against his mentor heading into Friday’s showdown. “Football saved my life and he was my head coach. Simple as that,” Peace said after CDO beat host Catalina Foothills 50-14 on Friday night. “Head coaches that saved kids’ lives likes this — changed their lives — he’s like a father figure to me. But I’m 0-3 against him. I wonder if he’s going to let me win one, so we’ll see. A lot of fun, we’re competitive with each other. We both got some pretty good teams and this is what it’s about. I’m glad it’s both of us.” …
.@CDO_football coach Dustin Peace heading into next week’s big showdown with his mentor Pat Nugent of Mica Mountain. Played for and coached with Nugent at Flowing Wells and CDO, respectively. Both have teams 6-0. CDO No. 2 and Mica Mountain No. 3 in 4A. Game is at CDO. pic.twitter.com/GoE4wunkMY
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) October 7, 2023
— Nugent coached Mica Mountain to a surprising 26-7 win over CDO to conclude last regular season, capping a five-game winning streak to end the year. Although the Thunderbolts, in their second varsity season at the time, earned the 4A Kino title, they stayed home while CDO went on to the postseason and reached the semifinals, losing at Snowflake in overtime. Mica Mountain’s winning streak is ongoing, at 11 games now. Those who do preseason polls ranked CDO at No. 1 in the 4A entering the season, which grabbed the attention of Mica Mountain. The Thunderbolts had all but two players returning. CDO has 29 seniors on its roster and Mica Mountain has 26. “The biggest thing for us is this is a matchup we wanted for a long time,” Nugent told AllSportsTucson.com’s Lori Burkhart after Mica Mountain’s 57-0 win at Pueblo on Friday. “I think our kids took a little chip on their shoulder a little bit after we beat them by 20 last year and CDO got ranked No. 1 this year. That’s 11 games in a row (with a win) with the group of kids we’ve been putting on the field. We’re the same team we had last year … Our kids are excited. I think it helped us with CDO getting ranked as high as they did because we just beat them. We’re excited about that but we have to go prove it on the football field next week. We’ve got to go to their place. It’s going to be a great high school football game. Two great teams. Two great coaching staffs. It’s going to be really exciting. It’s going to be a great Friday night in Tucson.” …
.@CDO_football RB @KaydenLuke2 rushed 13 times for 167 yards with two TDs in the Dorados’ 50-14 win over Catalina Foothills. Didn’t play in fourth quarter and was in only one series in the third quarter. Dorados to host Mica Mountain – each team 6-0 – next Friday. pic.twitter.com/OcgZDThpjs
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) October 7, 2023
— CDO and Mica Mountain have similar physical, dominant senior running backs who are among the leaders in the state in rushing yards. CDO’s Kayden Luke (5-foot-11 and 220 pounds) eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season with Friday night’s 167 yards on 13 carries with two touchdowns. With the game no longer in doubt in the third quarter (after the Dorados led 36-7 at halftime), he carried the ball only two times in the second half. Otherwise, he could have gone well over 200 yards. He is now at 1,018 yards rushing on 87 carries with 13 touchdowns. … Before Mica Mountain defeated Pueblo, Kason Colbert (6-1, 220) rushed for 759 yards on 48 carries with 11 touchdowns. … “It’s super exciting playing against a caliber of that team,” Luke said of Mica Mountain. “They’re going to bring it, so we’re going to have to bring it big time next week. We’ll be alright. We’ll figure it out. We always do. We keep going in practice and we do our thing. We’ll be good.” …
— CDO and Mica Mountain also have swarming defenses with dominant defensive ends — junior Evan Greer with the Dorados and junior Jimmy Leon with the Thunderbolts. The Dorados limited a depleted Catalina Foothills team (nine starters out with injuries) to only 54 yards rushing on 20 carries. The Falcons had 158 yards of total offense while CDO tallied 378, including 337 on the ground on 33 carries. A big reason (literally) for Luke and fellow running back Joe Alba (62 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns) racking up yards is offensive tackle Sa’Kylee Woodard, who is going to make college coaches happy at the next level. Woodard (6-foot-3 and 300 pounds) is one of the senior leaders on the team. His teammates love him. When he asked a girl to the prom after Friday’s game, about 10 teammates gathered around him and celebrated. When asked about matching up with Mica Mountain, he said, “I’m really excited. They’re a great team. They’re just as good as us. We’re ready to play football, some really hard-nosed football. We’re ready to get after it. They beat us last year. This is our get-back. We’ve been working hard and we have what it takes. We weren’t ready last year, safe to say (in the loss to Mica Mountain). We’ve been taking the procedures and measures this year to be ready this year … We’re prepared. We’re eager. We’re excited.” …
In what will be the biggest game in Southern Arizona since 2017 when Cienega and Jamarye Joiner played Marana and Trenton Bourguet twice (including the state playoffs) and Salpointe (last time Lancers lost to a Tucson-area team), No. 2 @cdo_football will face No. 3 Mica Mountain… pic.twitter.com/gq9HLjl8k6
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) October 7, 2023
Catalina Foothills coach Daniel Sainz is saddled by injuries this year, including to top running back Sam Delgado, who gained 533 yards on 66 carries in the Falcons’ first three games before tearing his meniscus. Delgado will require surgery in the postseason. He told me he might be cleared to play in two weeks when Catalina Foothills plays Walden Grove at home on Oct. 20 after the Falcons’ bye week next week. … A good turn of events for Sainz — junior quarterback Jacob Ford returned Friday from an injury suffered in the season opener on Aug. 25 against Combs. Ford showed poise in the pocket, completing 11 of 14 passes for 104 yards with a touchdown against CDO. … No. 13 Walden Grove won its fourth straight game Friday, routing Sahuaro 51-8 to improve to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the 4A Kino. The Red Wolves, overlooked because of the high ranking of CDO and Mica Mountain, could play the role of spoiler in the region. QB Gabriel Smith, RB Robert Cash II, WR Jayvon Coleman and LB Carlos Montoya Jr. can play for anybody. Walden Grove coach Corey Noble is 45-20 in his seventh season as head coach at the school. …
The 2023 season is one of head-scratching results and Marana is among those causing the most bewilderment. The Tigers (2-5 overall and 1-1 in the 5A Southern) went from defeating previously unbeaten Buena 55-0 on the road last week to losing 17-6 at Sunnyside, the biggest win in the young tenure of Blue Devils second-year coach Thomas Romack. Before beating Buena, Marana lost consecutive games to a struggling Mountain View team and CDO (after leading the Dorados 14-0 at halftime). … Another surprising score was No. 46 Empire upsetting No. 26 Amphi 27-20 at home. The Panthers (4-3, 2-1 4A Gila) needed to win out to have any hope of making the 4A state playoffs but this loss likely makes their season one of pride and wanting to claim the region title. Jeff Scurran’s No. 32 Rio Rico team is now atop the 4A Gila with a 2-0 record (3-3 overall) after Friday’s 38-8 win at Sahuarita. Rio Rico plays at Douglas (3-4, 2-1) and hosts Amphi in the next games. Those games will determine the champion of the 4A Gila, which likely will not have a postseason participant. …
No. 5 Tanque Verde’s 7-0 loss at Willcox on Friday night drops the Hawks to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the 2A San Pedro. No. 14 Bisbee (5-2, 4-0) can practically clinch the region title and automatic bid to the state playoffs on Friday with a victory at Tanque Verde. … Tough night for local 3A South powers Sabino and Tanque Verde at their home fields Friday. The No. 5 Sabercats (5-2, 2-1) lost to No. 11 Thatcher 27-20 and the No. 7 Lions (5-2, 0-2) were beaten by No. 13 Morenci 14-7. Morenci snapped a three-game losing streak and is 4-3 and 1-1. With each of the five 3A South teams, including No. 14 Safford (4-4, 1-1), evenly matched, talented and with similar power rankings, it’s conceivable all five will qualify for the 3A state playoffs. … San Manuel (5-2, 4-0 1A South) clinched its first region title since tying for the championship in 2018 when it was in the 2A Gila with its 40-6 win over visiting Ray on Friday night. Ernest Ivy’s program finished second behind St. David in three straight years before this season. A big game looms Friday at Baboquivari for the Miners. The No. 14 Warriors (4-3, 3-2), led by first-year coach Cody Garcia, are on a three-game winning streak and are in search of their first winning season since 2005. …
Tucson’s remaining unbeaten teams are Salpointe (6-0), CDO and Mica Mountain. The one-loss teams are Buena (6-1) and Ironwood Ridge (6-1). The Lancers face their first difficult test Friday when they travel to Peoria to play Liberty (5-1). Liberty’s lone loss this season was 42-35 at perennial power Corona (Calif.) Centennial on Sept. 22. Liberty is the No. 3 team in the Open Division rankings. It has blown out its other opponents, including Chandler Hamilton and Phoenix Pinnacle. A game like what’s looming for Salpointe at Liberty should bring out the best in players like Elijah Rushing and Keona Wilhite. … Ironwood Ridge has the week off before playing at winless Nogales (0-6) on Oct. 20. Buena, which gave Ironwood Ridge its only loss on Sept. 1, also has Friday off before playing at Cienega on Oct. 20. …
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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 in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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