Sabino’s Ryan McBrayer & CDO’s Dustin Peace part of elite championship coaching company

Sabino’s Ryan McBrayer has joined 36 other head coaches who have won a state championship in Southern Arizona high school football history dating to 1960.

The Sabercats (11-3) captured the 3A state championship with Saturday’s 68-46 victory over Paradise Honors at Mountain Pointe High School in Phoenix.

McBrayer, in his seventh season as head coach at his alma mater, won a championship on his first attempt.

Of the 36 coaches from Southern Arizona who have won a championship, 20 are from Tucson, including McBrayer. The most recent before McBrayer was Troy Copp at Pusch Ridge in 2015.

.@SabinoFootball1 coach Ryan McBrayer addresses his championship team. pic.twitter.com/ifPOaQ5LAD

— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 26, 2023

“We made shirts at the beginning of the year, all the shirt said was ‘2015,’ and that’s the last time that Tucson as a city took home a state championship,” McBrayer said, referencing Pusch Ridge’s Division IV state title win over Northwest Christian.

“These guys (he had his arm around quarterback Cameron Hackworth) had lofty expectations. They never wavered in that belief. They’re the team that broke an eight-year curse for Southern Arizona. Now, we’re going to cheer on CDO as they bring home a second one in two weeks for Tucson.”

CDO coach Dustin Peace’s appearance in the 4A state championship Friday against Yuma Catholic at Arizona State’s Mountain America Stadium is the third time he has reached the title game as a head coach.

.@CDO_football coach Dustin Peace will coach in his third state championship game, first since 2010, following Friday’s 23-7 win over Mica Mountain and mentor Pat Nugent in the 4A semifinals. Peace has now coached teams that have gone 14-0 (state champions in 2009), 13-1… pic.twitter.com/AyLScXQ1TD

— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 25, 2023

He led the Dorados to 14-0 record and state championship victory over Sabino in 2009. He lost the following season in the title game to Scottsdale Saguaro to finish 13-1.

CDO and Yuma Catholic are each 13-0 heading into Friday’s showdown at 4 p.m.

“I’m excited about how special it is to say, ‘Hey, this is your final game that you ever get to play,'” Peace said after CDO beat Mica Mountain 23-7 in the 4A semifinal game Friday at Dorado Stadium. “Not, ‘Maybe if we win, we get to play next week.’ All the chips are on the deck and we’ve got an opportunity to finish the deal how they all wanted to start the year.”

Only 11 other coaches at Southern Arizona schools since 1960 have coached in more state championship games than Peace, led by Jeff Scurran’s eight appearances (five with Sabino, two with Santa Rita and one with Catalina Foothills).

Scurran, who won three state championships at Sabino, was in attendance to cheer on the Sabercats on Saturday night. He wore a Sabino shirt under a button-up shirt and jacket. He recently completed his 39th season as a head coach at the high school level at Rio Rico, where he has coached the last two seasons.

Peace, in his 15th season at CDO, has the opportunity to join 12 other coaches who have multiple state championships. Of those 12, six are from Tucson metropolitan area schools.

They are Scurran with his three titles, and Richard Sanchez of Sunnyside, John Mallamo of Tucson, Ollie Mayfield of Tucson and Bob Smith of CDO each with two.

State Championship Southern Arizona Coaches

SOUTHERN ARIZONA COACHES IN STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS