2024 High School Football

Frog & Firkin Football Friday: Opportunistic Mica Mountain region champs after beating Walden Grove

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Pat Nugent is 167-66 in his 22nd season as a head coach at the high school level, including 29-9 in his fourth season at Mica Mountain (Javier Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

SAHUARITA — No 10 Walden Grove had 60 offensive plays compared to 42 for No. 5 Mica Mountain, but the host Red Wolves could not pull off the upset because of the two biggest plays in the much-anticipated game.

Interceptions in Walden Grove territory by Riley Carson toward the end of the first quarter and Nate Bryant early in the second quarter led to touchdowns by the Thunderbolts and proved to be the difference in the 16-6 win that earned Mica Mountain the 4A Kino championship.

The Thunderbolts are 9-0 overall and 4-0 in the 4A Kino. The hard-luck Red Wolves are 6-3 and 3-1.

Corey Noble’s team has lost at No. 4 Arcadia 24-21 and against No. 6 Northwest Christian 21-16 and now the fifth-rated Thunderbolts at home. That’s three losses to top 10 programs by a total of only 18 points with each game going to the final possessions of the fourth quarter.

“We turned the ball over twice and it led to two scores,” Noble said. “Can’t turn the ball over against really good teams. … They capitalized on it twice and that’s what good teams do.”

Mica Mountain gained possession at the Walden Grove 35-yard line after the interceptions by Carson and Bryant.

Carson’s interception with 2:53 left in the first quarter was followed by a seven-play possession that was capped by Jayden Thoreson’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Jake Johnson that opened the scoring with 10:14 left in the second quarter.

Thoreson completed a 29-yard pass to Johnson that set up the touchdown.

Bryant made his interception that ended Walden Grove’s next possession.

On Mica Mountain’s first play, Thoreson completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to an open J.J. Mangrum with 8:33 remaining in the second quarter. A trick play out of the extra-point formation resulted in an incomplete pass and Mica Mountain led 13-0, which proved to be enough for the win.

A 43-yard field goal by Landon Hubbard with 2:46 left in the second quarter increased the lead to 16-0.

“I thought we did a few good things in the first half,” Mica Mountain coach Pat Nugent said. “Obviously, our defense played well and they struggled a little bit. They made some great adjustments in the second half. We had a hard time.

“They’re a really good defense, they loaded the box. They did a great job on their man coverage and we had a real battle. We didn’t do anything offensively in the second half and they did a great job with their offense. Picked our defense apart for the first time anybody has really moved the ball on us.”

One of the most incredible stats involving Southern Arizona programs this year — Mica Mountain’s defense has scored more touchdowns (six) than it has allowed (five) this season.

Walden Grove went from compiling only 51 yards of total offense in the first half to 153 in the second half, mostly via the pass.

Rising talent Kaleb Layton, a junior in his first year as a varsity starter, settled down after the two early interceptions. He went from being 2 of 10 for 24 yards in the first half to 14 of 23 for 124 yards in the second half. At one point, he completed 13 of 14 attempts.

He engineered Walden Grove’s first drive in the second half into Mica Mountain territory before the Red Wolves had to punt at the 40.

Walden Grove’s second possession of the half started at the Mica Mountain 43 after the Thunderbolts were forced to punt at their 8.

A pass interference call and three completions by Layton for 31 yards — including passes on two fourth-down conversions — set up his 2-yard touchdown run with 11:56 left in the fourth quarter. The 2-point conversion run failed and Walden Grove trailed 16-6.

“They did a good job and they converted a lot of fourth downs on us,” Nugent said. “We’ve got to figure that out. That’s going to be playoff football for the rest of the season. … they say, ‘Defense wins championships,’ and we hope these guys continue.

“But, unfortunately, we showed a few things, a few flaws that some teams are going to take advantage of right now. We gave a blueprint of how to move the ball against us … We’re going to figure those things and self-evaluate during the weekend, come back stronger next week (at home against an improved Catalina Foothills team) and grind for the state playoffs.”

Both teams turned the ball over on downs — Walden Grove at its 45 and Mica Mountain at the Red Wolves’ 38 — before Walden Grove exhibited one last gasp to cut into the Thunderbolts’ lead.

A 38-yard hook-and-ladder play on fourth-and-15 at the Walden Grove 35 kept the Red Wolves’ last drive alive.

Layton completed a pass of 12 yards to Eli White, who flipped the ball to Jose Chafin, who was in full stride. Chafin was tackled at the Mica Mountain 27.

“It’s hard to prepare for certain plays like that,” said Noble, whose team executed a similar successful play against Mica Mountain last season. “They were outstanding. Coach Nugent is a freakin’ phenomenal coach and they have a great staff. We knew they were going to be the best team we’ve played so far.”

A pass interference call advanced the ball to the Thunderbolt 12. A 5-yard run by Layton made it fourth-and-5 at the 7.

The scoring threat was thwarted when linebacker Broden Schmidt used the large cast on his left arm to bat down a pass in the end zone with 2:35 left.

Mica Mountain then went into Victory Formation after getting a first down.

“On that play, I saw the receiver doing a slant route; we spied on that play. I read the quarterback’s eyes and swatted the ball,” Schmidt said of his play in the end zone. “I’ve done well this year. I give most benefits to my teammates. They’ve put me in great situations this year.”

Schmidt led one of the best defenses in the state, coached by coordinator Brett Darling, with 47 tackles entering the game.

“My coaches have given me chances to shine this season,” Schmidt said. “I’m just trying to work for them and achieve my goal this year and that’s to win a state championship.”

The difference of the game was Mica Mountain’s defensive line.

The front led by the likes of Jimmy Leon, Jaysen Criswell, George Flores and Shangkat Jwander constantly put pressure on Layton and limited the Red Wolves’ potent running game to only 36 yards on 27 carries.

Walden Grove entered the game averaging a phenomenal 190.6 yards rushing a game.

“It’s a team game, all four linemen working together to get the quarterback; that’s the end goal,” said Leon, who had one of the Thunderbolts’ three sacks. “This defense is amazing. … We want to put it on watch that we have the best defense, not only in 4A, but the state. … We want to let you know that Mica Mountain is the real deal.”

Criswell also had one of the sacks and was constantly tracking down Walden Grove’s running backs.

“Coach Darling, he’s really a dog,” Criswell said. “The defense is one big family. That’s all that matters.”

Darling is a longtime assistant under Nugent, dating to their days together at Cienega.

He is one of the top defensive coordinators in the state who analyzes opposing offenses like no one else and his animated demeanor on the sideline charges the Thunderbolts.

“He’s passionate,” Nugent said. “He works his tail off. He’s an unbelievable teacher. He’s a non-stop guy so our kids love him. We get after it. We play with that energy that you need to play with on defense.”

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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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