Empire defeated nemisis Phoenix Sierra Linda 14-7 in the non-region season opener at home on Thursday night, increasing its winning streak to six games dating to last season.
The Ravens won their last five games in 2023 to finish 6-4.
One of their losses to begin last season (when they started 1-4) was 13-6 to Sierra Linda on the road in the season opener.
The Bulldogs topped the Ravens by close scores in three consecutive years — 26-21 in 2021, 14-12 in 2022 and 13-6 last season. Thursday’s final score means all four games were decided by a touchdown or less.
“Our team fought through adversity,” Empire coach George Kelly, in his sixth season, mentioned via a text message after Thursday’s game. “Guys went down and we had guys step up and play, and they played well. We have a lot to fix. Sierra Linda brought it to us tonight.
“It’s always a great game playing those guys. We knew coming in that they would be tough and we would have to execute at a high level in order to win. I’m proud of our team and my staff!”
CATALINA FOOTHILLS LOSES THRILLER IN GREG McKINSTRY’S FIRST GAME AS COACH
Catalina Foothills lost 28-21 in a back-and-forth struggle and quarterback shootout with visiting San Tan Valley Combs on Thursday night.
The dawn of the Greg McKinstry II era at Catalina included a pass-happy, effective attack behind senior quarterback Jacob Ford.
Ford completed 21 of 28 pass attempts for 348 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
“Close game like that, you can only hope that you come out with a win,” Ford said. “But super fun. I mean, we’re passing all around. I love that we’re passing as much as we are.”
Catalina Foothills senior QB Jacob Ford completed 21 of 28 pass attempts for 348 yards with a TD and interception in the Falcons’ 28-21 loss to San Tan Valley Combs. Ford very impressive with his decision making, accuracy and playmaking ability in the pocket. pic.twitter.com/1385iVM0Mf
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) August 30, 2024
His counterpart Kannin Hale was 12 of 17 for 240 yards with two touchdowns, including a game-winning 78-yard pass to Branson Moak with 7 seconds remaining.
The Hale-to-Moak connection accounted for nine completions for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
The touchdown with 7 seconds left finished a wild fourth quarter that included Catalina Foothills’ Sean Brown block a 32-yard field goal attempt that allowed Alex Cutuli to return the ball to the Combs 45.
Ford completed a 42-yard pass to Henry Nentl on the next play. That led to a 2-yard touchdown run by Greg McKinstry III, the coach’s son, that tied the game at 21 with 8:17 left.
“Jacob did pretty well tonight,” the elder McKinstry said. “Other than the one errant throw (an interception in the first half) — he didn’t step into that throw — and throwing like he normally does. … Overall, he played a really good game.”
Greg McKinstry II, former coach at Catalina, came up short from winning his first game as Catalina Foothills’ head coach in the 28-21 loss to San Tan Valley Combs. Talks about what to build on, the productive passing offense with QB Jacob Ford and his son Greg III (6-2, 185)… pic.twitter.com/Q4pFBiPXNw
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) August 30, 2024
Nentl had six catches for 109 yards and he returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
He caught a pass and the ball was jarred loose after he took a step approaching the end zone with 3:17 left.
After the ball was recovered in the end zone, Combs went on a 15-play drive that ended with the blocked field goal by Brown.
Catalina has a difficult stretch ahead, traveling to Yuma Catholic next week before hosting Buena, Pusch Ridge and Tucson High. Yuma Catholic lost to Canyon del Oro in the 4A state championship game last season.
MCKINSTRY’S NEW ENVIRONMENT
The change from Catalina to Catalina Foothills for McKinstry included a packed home side of the football field, one of the largest marching bands in the state, a group of nearly 10 assistant coaches and a roster that can go two deep.
McKinstry tried to get the most out of his resources at Catalina and was 5-25 in his three years leading the Trojan program.
Many of Catalina Foothills’ players and families needed time to acquaint themselves with McKinstry because he came from a program that struggled mightily.
His coaching background beyond Catalina (where he started right after the pandemic in 2021) includes being the co-offensive coordinator at Sioux Falls (S.D.) O’Gorman High School, which was 33-12 in his four seasons there. A former defensive back at Ohio University and Northern Iowa, McKinstry also served as an assistant at Northern Iowa from 2009-12.
His high school coaching stops include Waterloo, Iowa, and Milwaukee. In the last three years, he has worked as a behavioral specialist at a middle school in Sioux Falls. He continued that same role at Catalina. He is a physical education teacher at Catalina Foothills.
“We’ve got a nice fanbase, crowd,” he said about his first experience coaching a game at Catalina Foothills. “It’s good to have a lot of kids, if one goes down and gets injured, you can find someone in a similar position, you can replace him and not put a receiver in as an offensive tackle.
“Having more coaches is always helpful. … I’m enjoying myself here at Cat Foot.”
IRONWOOD RIDGE STARTS SEASON WITH VICTORY
Report from Andy Morales of AllSportsTucson.com:
Ironwood Ridge held on to beat Seton Catholic 28-20 at home Thursday night in a game where both teams felt they deserved the victory and it really could have gone either way.
The Nighthawks built a 28-7 lead with 8:15 left only to see the Sentinels take control of the game from there before coming up short.
A blocked punt put the Sentinels in excellent field position and Luc Aquilar ripped of a 34-yard run to cut the lead down to 28-14 with 7:32 left. The Nighthawks gave the ball back on downs after a few dropped passes and Chase Dickson responded by leading his team down the field, capped by a 16-yard pass to Aguilar to cut the lead down to 28-20 with 2:55 left.
The Sentinels went for a two-point conversion after the score but Aguilar was stopped short.
“It was a lot closer than I was hoping for,” Ironwood Ridge head coach Dale Stott said. “It was typical for a first game with mistakes, miscues, dropped balls. Our own errors, interceptions, turnovers, made it a lot like tighter.”
Ironwood Ridge QB Jaiden Martinez threw for 181 yards with 3 TDs and rushed for 52 more in a 28-20 win over Seton Catholic. pic.twitter.com/3SLsVBGCK4
— Andy Morales (@AZPreps365Andy) August 30, 2024
The Nighthawks were able to take some clock off but the Sentinels managed to get the ball back for one more drive with 32.2 seconds left but four straight incompletions ended the game.
The game started out sluggish but Seton Catholic stopped Ironwood Ridge on downs and a sack forced a punt before both teams traded interceptions. The Sentinels broke through in the second quarter on a 29-yard pass from Dickson to Joseph Ferrance to put the team up 7-0 but a 77-yard strike from Jaiden Martinez to Matthew Kroner tied the game up 7-7 with 10:14 left in the half.
The momentum switch was magnified when the Sentinels fumbled a few minutes later and then Kroner returned a punt 67 yards with 4:47 left to put the Nighthawks up 13-7 on the missed extra point.
The Sentinels drove down to the 36 put gave the ball back on downs with 1:37 left which gave Martinez too much time to work with. He hit Kroner for 13 yards before tucking the ball himself on a 44-yard gain to the six where he hit David Baba on a short TD pass to put the Nighthawks up 21-7 with 23.7 seconds left with a two-point play from Martinez to Grant Dooling added into the score. The last five minutes of the first half proved to be the difference.
Martinez hit Kroner on an 8-yard score to put the Nighthawks up 28-7 with 8:10 left in the third quarter but the shift to the Sentinels began too late. Aguilar finished with 192 yards rushing on 19 carries and he added 71 yards receiving on six more touches. His performance cannot be overlooked based on the loss.
On the other side, Martinex threw for 181 yards with three TDs and Kroner had 149 yards receiving with two TDs.
“Hats off to them because they battled and didn’t fold, that was a good Seton team,” Stott added. “They came ready to play.”
Both coaches want their squads to clean up a few things before the Nighthawks travel to Buena next week and the Sentinels host St. Mary’s. Buena and St. Mary’s open their seasons Friday night which gives Ironwood Ridge and Seton Catholic the rare opportunity to scout their opponents in person if they wish.
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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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