Canyon del Oro is coming off a 4A state championship season in which 28 seniors graduated, including superstar running back Kayden Luke, who has earned playing time as a true freshman at Arizona, and the Dorados no longer have legendary coach Dustin Peace, who resigned after two state titles in his 15 years as head coach.
Another former CDO standout, Sa’Kylee Woodard, will see playing time as a true freshman defensive end at the Division I level Saturday with New Mexico at Auburn.
Scott McKee, a veteran in his 19th season as a head coach, is working diligently to keep the returning players believing in immediate success despite the changes from last year.
Very few if any who follow high school football in this state thought CDO would be 2-1 at this point with a blowout win over Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain last week and a 21-6 victory on Friday night on the road over established 5A program Desert View under longtime coach Robert Bonillas.
It’s great to see @SMckee41 back coaching/leading a program with his legendary dad Larry McKee, a talented offensive lineman at Arizona who went on to coach and serve as a longtime administrator at local high schools. Larry is helping his son with @cdo_football call plays from… pic.twitter.com/ZndDIsD6o1
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) September 14, 2024
The Dorados’ loss was a 12-3 struggle in the season opener at Mesa Eastmark. The Dorados kept Eastmark scoreless in the second half with an impressive defense led by senior defensive ends Evan Greer and Mason Boothe, a pair that is among the best in the state.
Woodard’s brother Adriel, a freshman, and senior Siro Biocca were also formidable applying pressure off the edge against Desert View.
“You have 39 new players and 18 new starters,” McKee said after Friday’s win. “The blueprint of the program, I tell you all the time, is Dusty’s program. So these kids are tough, they’re dependable and they’re parents are lined up.
“When you have that, every day is a learning experience for us. They’re tough, they’re focused, they work, and they’ll find ways of getting even better.”
It helps McKee a great deal, and he certainly acknowledges it, that a majority of Peace’s staff remained with the program despite the change in head coaches.
That loyalty permeates the whole organization and puts the returning players at ease because of the familiarity. Many of the coaches are also teachers at the school.
“The staff is pure class,” McKee said. “They’re getting coached every single period of every single day.”
One of the returning coaches is defensive coordinator Eric Rossi, whose unit has been overpowering to this point behind Greer and Boothe, a dynamic duo that combined for 22 tackles, 11 for loss, entering the game against Desert View.
.@cdo_football lost more than 25 seniors from last year’s 4A state championship team but not many teams in Southern Arizona or the state, for that matter, have defensive ends like Evan Greer and Mason Boothe in terms of their size, ability and toughness. Greer scored on two… pic.twitter.com/4aXjDXOpCY
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) September 14, 2024
The Dorados’ three opponents have combined for only three touchdowns and 25 points.
“It’s awesome; we had a stud (at defensive end) last year — Grant Young — but Mason has filled in his shoes well and has stepped into the challenge,” said Greer, a 6-foot, 226-pound force that had four sacks and scored twice from 1 yard against Desert View on direct-snap “Wildcat” formation plays.
Boothe, orginally a tight end, is 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds and towers over most on the line.
CDO’s leading tackler Nick Mondragon is a 5-10, 194-pound senior linebacker who also is an effective running back, rushing for 57 yards on 13 carries against the Jaguars.
The Dorados scored their other touchdown on a 35-yard completion from senior Gavin Bower to freshman Jayden Smith that opened the scoring in the first quarter.
The Dorados host Amphi, a district rival within the Amphitheater School District, on Friday before hosting unbeaten Marana — with one of the most dynamic offenses in the state — on Sept. 27.
McKEE AND BONILLAS REUNITE AFTER BEING ARIZONA TEAMMATES
Former @ArizonaFBall teammates about to coach against each other tonight: @SMckee41 of @cdo_football and Robert Bonillas of @DESERTVIEW_FB. pic.twitter.com/0AmPcuT83m
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) September 14, 2024
McKee was a freshman at Arizona in 1998 and Bonillas was a senior with Arizona’s 12-1 team under Dick Tomey.
They coached against each other Friday night for the first time since 2017, when McKee’s Sahuaro team beat Desert View 20-0.
McKee is 4-0 in his coaching career against Bonillas, who McKee said he had “tremendous respect for as a player.”
“Especially being a Nogales legend, a Tucson guy, an Arizona guy, and I being a local guy,” said McKee, who took part in linebacker meetings with Bonillas at Arizona. “He’s someone I looked up to and tried to be like. I tried to follow the path.”
DESERT VIEW COACHING LEGEND HUMBERTO FEDERICO RECENTLY HOSPITALIZED IN SERIOUS CONDITION
Missing on the Desert View sideline on Friday night was coaching legend Humberto Federico, who is usually present helping with stats.
Federico is recovering at home after being in serious condition at a hospital with water his lungs.
One Desert View staffer mentioned that Federico was in a dire state at one point.
Federico was the first coach in Desert View’s history, leading the Jaguar program from 1985 to 1996. He is inducted in the Sunnyside Unified School District Hall of Fame.
DESERT VIEW PASSING CONNECTION IMPRESSIVE
Desert View junior quarterback Marcos Ryan Vasavilbaso and junior receiver Fernando Soto connection was impressive against CDO.
Vasavilbaso completed eight passes for 87 yards to Soto. He was 22 of 32 overall for 184 yards.
Christian Teah, another junior standout who is a running back, rushed for a 22-yard touchdown and finished with 45 yards on nine carries for the Jaguars.
THIS AND THAT
— Palo Verde’s 43-0 win at Scottsdale Coronado improved the Titans to 2-1, their best start since beginning 4-0 in the 2013 season under Todd Mayfield. It is also the first time the Titans have achieved consecutive wins since 2017 under Laurence Ruhf.
— Empire’s seven-game winning streak dating to last year was snapped in a 43-6 loss at Ironwood Ridge on Friday night.
— The remaining unbeaten teams in Southern Arizona are Marana (3-0), Buena (3-0), Casa Grande (3-0), Mica Mountain (3-0), Thatcher (4-0) and St. David (4-0). Marana, Buena and Casa Grande are in the 5A Southern with Cienega, Sunnyside and Desert View.
— Rincon/University pulled its team from the game trailing 42-6 at halftime at Safford.
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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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