2023 High School Football

HS FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Mica Mountain’s defense backbone of program’s first playoff win

Posted on
Share


Mica Mountain defenders Jaysen Criswell (51), George Flores (75) and J.J. Mangrum corral a Snowflake running back (Stephanie van Latum/Special to AllSportsTucson.com)

Brett Darling sought me after Mica Mountain’s recent victory over Walden Grove to point out his defense is a significant factor with the Thunderbolts’ success. The longtime defensive coordinator under coach Pat Nugent, extending to their time together at Cienega, has much in his defense that his D is highly effective. The Thunderbolts have the leader in sacks in 4A in the state — junior defensive end Jimmy Leon with 17 — and bruising tacklers at linebacker such as Broden Schmidt and Jaysen Criswell to go with a secondary that shuts down the opposing passing game — cornerbacks Devin Hayward and Will White and safeties Jonah Garcia and Dominik Leon. One of their top defenders, senior linebacker Kason Colbert, has missed the last four games because of concussion protocol. He is tested week-to-week to determine his availability. He could play in Friday’s 4A quarterfinal game at home against No. 6 Northwest Christian. …

Leon was hobbled after suffering a heel injury in Thursday’s 31-24 thriller over visiting Snowflake — the first playoff game in the school’s brief four-year history. He did play in the second half, including on offense as a tight end. The extra day off with this week’s games played on Thursday because of Veterans Day on Friday will allow players such as Leon to heal an extra day before preparing for Northwest Christian on Monday. … Hayward, brother of former Cienega and NAU player Terrell Hayward, who played for Nugent at Cienega, was the difference against Snowflake with his 96-yard kickoff return after the Lobos scored a touchdown on the first possession of the game and two interceptions in the end zone in the fourth quarter that preserved Mica Mountain’s lead. His pick with 28.7 seconds left on a fourth-down play thwarted Snowflake’s attempt to tie the game with the Lobos snapping the ball at the Mica Mountain 7. “I just got the job done; a great team victory,” Hayward said. …

Hayward was the top player for a defense that forced 15 incompletions and solved talented Snowflake quarterback Brennan Bryant after Bryant started the game 8-of-13 for 125 yards with touchdown passes of 31 and 46 yards. After that, Bryant was 7-of-17 for 76 yards without a touchdown while throwing the two interceptions. … Mica Mountain’s rushing defense kept Snowflake in check, preventing the Lobos from any big gains. The longest run out of the 42 attempts Snowflake had was only 12 yards. The Lobos finished with 153 yards rushing, an average of only 3.6 yards a carry — hardly the amount needed to keep an offense balanced and effective. Mica Mountain, on the other hand, was powered by dynamic running back Conner Hangartner, a 5-foot-6 and 160-pound tough-as-nails runner with bursts of speed in mid-run. Hangartner nearly outgained Snowflake on the ground by himself with 140 yards on 15 carries, including a touchdown run of 73 yards with 5:28 left in the third quarter that put Mica Mountain ahead 31-21. Mica Mountain finished with 192 yards rushing on 24 carries. “It’s been working all week,” Hangartner said of the between-the-tackles run-up-the-gut play that broke free for the 73-yard score. “I knew, saw it, bounced it and went.” …

Mica Mountain’s passing game, led by junior Jayden Thoreson, was effective in the first half with Thoreson throwing a 68-yard pass to Garcia that set up Hangarner’s 1-yard scoring run and a 25-yard strike to Jack Bradley that put the Thunderbolts ahead 21-7 with 10:45 left in the second quarter. … Snowflake then showed that its better than a No. 14 seed against the third-seeded Thunderbolts. Brennan engineered consecutive touchdown-scoring drives that tied the game at 21 with 2:07 left in the half. A 34-yard field goal by Mica Mountain’s Landon Hubbard with 4.9 seconds left before halftime gave the Thunderbolts a 24-21 lead going into the break. … Hangartner’s 73-yard touchdown run increased the lead to 31-21 with 5:28 left in the third quarter. … Mica Mountain’s defense in the second half prevented a touchdown and relegated Snowflake to end its possessions this way — 40-yard missed field goal, punt, interception in end zone by Hayward, 35-yard field goal and game-clinching interception in the end zone in the waning seconds by Hayward. … “First playoff game for the school I was worried the kids would think it was too big a time for them playing a great program,” Nugent said. “For our kids to come out the way we did tonight with the inexperience we have for the playoffs, to pull that out — it wasn’t a pretty game — but you know what? The kids did just enough to win the game and that’s what you do this time of year — survive and advance.” …

Nugent has now coached four different Southern Arizona schools in a playoff game — Flowing Wells, CDO, Cienega and Mica Mountain. He has a 13-11 record in 12 seasons of coaching teams to the playoffs. He is in his 21st season as a head coach at the high school level with a 157-65 record. The other Southern Arizona coaches whose teams remain alive have a history of multiple postseason appearances like Nugent. … Salpointe’s Eric Rogers has taken the Lancers to the playoffs in all four years after replacing the legendary Dennis Bene. The Lancers’ 41-0 win over visiting Tempe Corona del Sol in the opening round of the 6A playoffs on Thursday night improved Rogers’ playoff record to 6-3 that includes a loss in the 2021 5A championship game. Rogers is 34-11 overall as Salpointe’s coach. … CDO’s Dustin Peace is coaching in his 11th postseason in his 15 years as the Dorados’ coach after replacing Nugent there. Following Thursday’s 45-20 first-round win over visiting Poston Butte in the 4A state playoffs, Peace’s playoff record is 13-9. That includes a 4-0 run in the 2009 4A, Division I playoffs that culminated with a 14-0 overall record and championship in his first year as coach. CDO is 11-0 this season after Thursday’s win. Peace is 116-50 in his career with the Dorados. … Sabino’s Ryan McBrayer is coaching in his sixth postseason in his seven years as head coach at his alma mater. His only season without a playoff appearance was the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season in which the Sabercats won the two games they played that season. McBrayer improved to 8-5 in the playoffs with Friday’s 28-20 win over visiting Round Valley in the 3A quarterfinal game. Sabino is in the 3A semifinals for the second time under McBrayer. The Sabercats went that far in 2018 before losing to Yuma Catholic in a 75-43 shootout. McBrayer is 55-20 in his seven years as Sabino’s coach. …

Sabino quarterback Cameron Hackworth came into Thursday’s game 440 yards shy (8,254) of the career passing record for Southern Arizona held by former Catalina Foothills standout Rhett Rodriguez (8,694). He unofficially had 226 yards passing in the victory over Round Valley that would give him 8,480 for his career. Sabino should have his official stats released by Saturday. He has an opportunity to break Rodriguez’s record next Saturday at 6 p.m. when the No. 4 Sabercats (9-3) play No. 1 Mohave (11-1) in the semifinal game at Mesa High School. They outlasted Mohave 34-29 at home in late October. … Former Sabino, Arizona and NFL linebacker Brooks Reed gave an impassioned motivational speech to the Sabercats following Thursday’s victory. As a senior in 2006, Reed was recognized as a first-team all-state selection and a SuperPrep high school All-American at running back. He received first-team all-state honors as a defensive lineman from the Tucson Citizen. He played on teams that reached the state championship games under Jay Campos in 2005 and 2006. Sabino is attempting to win its first state title since 1998, when it was coached by Jeff Scurran. The Sabercats have advanced to the state championship games five times since that title, four times under Campos, who is now an assistant principal of interscholastics at Mica Mountain. …

Tanque Verde’s Jeff Bollnow came very close to becoming the first coach in Southern Arizona to win a state title in his first year as coach since Peace achieved the feat in 2009 at CDO. Peace followed the legendary Nugent, who went on to coach at Pima College. Bollnow was hired after the popular Jay Dobyns resigned after coaching the Hawks to the state playoffs for the first time since Tanque Verde opened in 2005. Peace and Bollnow had tough acts to follow and flourished. Bollnow has a connection with Nugent as well, serving as the Nugent’s defensive coordinator at Cienega for two years before Nugent left to Mica Mountain in 2021. … In a Class 2A quarterfinal game Thursday, the Hawks took unbeaten Arizona Lutheran to the limit behind its dominating defense before losing 22-21 in overtime when the host Coyotes (now 12-0) scored on a 2-point conversion run. As Bollnow pointed out to AllSportsTucson.com’s Brittany Bowyer, Tanque Verde limited Arizona Lutheran’s potent offense that is averaging 59.2 points a game to only 14 in regulation. Tanque Verde allowed only 106 points in its 12 games this season, an average of a remarkable 8.8 points a game. The defense pitched four shutouts and allowed only a field goal to Glendale Prep in another game. … Sabino and Tanque Verde are within only four miles of each other, which means some tremendous football talent is being produced in that eastside area of Tucson.

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 in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

print
Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Related Items:, , , , , , , ,

Recommended for you

Comments
To Top