2024 High School Football

Frog & Firkin Friday: Although Desert View & Sunnyside struggling, Duel in the District doesn’t disappoint

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Jaylee Abraham’s three touchdowns after halftime sparked Desert View to a 29-28 overtime win over rival Sunnyside in the Duel in the District (Javier Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

Both teams entered with losing records and not a chance for the postseason, but Friday night’s Duel in the District game between Desert View and Sunnyside had the atmosphere of a high-stakes playoff game.

-Mostly packed seating on both sides at Sunnyside’s stadium.

-Both marching bands playing loud and proud throughout the game.

-Drama from the start with the captains of both teams not shaking hands at midfield before the coin toss.

-Remarkable individual performances on each side (including Sunnyside senior running back Javier Mendivil’s 222-yard Herculean effort on 25 carries with four touchdowns in his last high school game).

-Tale of two different halves with the game going into overtime.

Desert View freshman Jaylee Abraham — remember that name — scored on a 10-yard run in overtime to cut Sunnyside’s lead to one point and coach Robert Bonillas — a Dick Tomey disciple who played tight end on Arizona’s 12-1 team in 1998 — went for the win with a 2-point conversion.

Marcos Ryan Vasavilbaso, a junior who passed for 166 of his 229 yards after halftime, completed a pass to tight end Isaac Zazueta for the two points and the 29-28 thrilling victory.

Somewhere up there Tomey is smiling down on Bonillas and his team because Tomey, nicknamed the “Desert Fox” by some, was known for doing the unthinkable like going for the two points for the win instead of forcing the next overtime.

With Desert View and Sunnyside each entering with a four-game losing streak in 5A Southern games — both teams finished the season 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the region — what did Bonillas and the Jaguars have to lose?

Bonillas opted to not be interviewed after the game, wanting a player like Vasavilbaso to comment on the team’s performance and going for the win.

“Coach Bo’s always talking about taking a shot; we took a shot and it paid off,” said Vasavilbaso, a 6-foot-1 and 160-pound quarterback who showed incredible poise in the second half.

“Everybody executed. Everybody did their job. No. 8, Isaac Zazueta, catching the ball. That was great.”

In the first half, Vasavilbaso was 6 of 14 for 63 yards with two interceptions — both snagged by Sunnyside’s Ismael Martinez.

In the second half, he was 12 of 16 for 166 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions.

The second half was also the coronation of Abraham becoming a varsity star after leading Desert View’s freshman team to an unbeaten record.

Abraham initially planned to attend perennial powerhouse Peoria Centennial after promoting from Gallego Intermediate, which is about a mile from Desert View’s campus.

The family opted to stay in Tucson and Bonillas — and all of Southern Arizona — could not be more appreciative.

Abraham, who has been spotlighted before at AllSportsTucson.com as a high-quality baseball player with Sunnyside Little League, immediately impacted the game when Bonillas decided to utilize him the second half.

On Desert View’s first possession after the Jaguars trailed 14-0 at halftime, Abraham’s 21-yard run and Vasavilbaso’s 21-yard pass to Eric Barcelo set up Abraham’s 2-yard scoring run with 9:22 left in the third quarter.

Following an interception by Anthony Saavedra that gave Desert View the ball at the Jaguars’ 47, Vasavilbaso connected with Abraham for 22-yard pass that led to a 9-yard touchdown run by Christian Teah.

The game was quickly tied at 14 with 3:51 left in the third quarter.

Vasavilbaso mentioned that Abraham had to wait until the second half because he played three quarters Thursday in Desert View’s win over Sunnyside in the freshman-season finale.

“We have the same plays on the freshmen as we do the varsity,” Vasavilbaso added. “He executed because he wants this. We all wanted it, but he showed he wanted it a little more.”

Jaylee Abraham led Desert View’s freshman team to an unbeaten record, including a win over Sunnyside on Thursday night, and followed that with a victory over the Blue Devils in his first varsity game Friday night (Gilbert Alcaraz/AllSportsTucson.com)

Abraham, a former standout in the Tucson Seminoles youth football organization, scored three touchdowns.

The 5-foot-9 and 180-pound talent rushed for 56 yards on nine carries with two touchdowns and caught five passes for 67 yards with a score. He also played effectively as a cornerback.

While Abraham experienced a breakout performance, Mendivil, a transfer from Cholla, closed his high school career with his best performance.

His 65-yard touchdown run with 2:48 remaining put Sunnyside back on top 21-14.

Vasavilbaso then engineered a 13-play, 83-yard scoring drive that took 6:18 between the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter.

The drive included three third-down conversions, two of them on passes by Vasavilbaso and the other on an offsides penalty by Sunnyside.

Desert View was ultimately faced with a fourth-and-goal at the 6. Vasavilbaso, who was not sacked in the game, rolled to his left, luring Sunnyside’s defenders that way. Abraham snuck to the end zone far on the right side alone and Vasavilbaso connected with him for the touchdown pass to tie the game at 21 with 8:24 remaining.

Sunnyside’s ensuing possession ended with a missed 44-yard field goal with 1:08 left.

Desert View advanced the ball to the 50 before regulation ended.

Mendivil had a 2-yard run before scoring on an 8-yard run to put Sunnyside ahead 28-21 in overtime.

Abraham then ran up the gut and maneuvered his way to the end zone for the score.

Vasavilbaso’s 2-point conversion pass to Zazueta followed and it was pandemonium on the field with the Jaguars wildly celebrating.

The victory ended a two-game slide against Sunnyside and was only the sixth victory for the Jaguars in the series that dates to 1985 between the schools that are separated by only three miles.

Sunnyside now leads 16-6 in the Duel in the District, a series that dates to 1985 when Desert View opened. The schools did not play each other from 1995 to 2010 because they were in different regions and the competitive nature reached a boiling point.

Desert View has won five of the last eight meetings, including three straight wins at Sunnyside dating to 2017.

“It’s a great feeling; we got to send our seniors off right,” Vasavilbaso said. “We got to start off good for next year, and we’re going to keep on pushing. These freshmen are going to be sophomores. It’s something special.

“We’ll take a week off and come right back to it — lifting, practicing. You’ll see something different next year at Desert View.”

DUEL IN THE DISTRICT SERIES

The series between Desert View and Sunnyside in football (home team in CAPS). The schools did not play between 1995 and 2010 because of being in different regions and classifications. The 2023 game was the first time both schools ended the regular season against each other. Sunnyside leads the series 16-6.
* Game at Kino North Stadium.
YearWinnerScoreLoserScore
1985SUNNYSIDE51Desert View 0
1986Sunnyside 40DESERT VIEW7
1987SUNNYSIDE14Desert View13
1988SUNNYSIDE23Desert View 12
1989DESERT VIEW19Sunnyside 0
1990SUNNYSIDE21Desert View0
1991Sunnyside 14DESERT VIEW6
1992SUNNYSIDE18Desert VIew16
1993Sunnyside34DESERT VIEW0
1994SUNNYSIDE39Desert View0
2011SUNNYSIDE49Desert View0
2012Sunnyside42DESERT VIEW6
2013SUNNYSIDE34Desert View27
2014Sunnyside53DESERT VIEW0
2016DESERT VIEW42Sunnyside20
2017Desert View10SUNNYSIDE 7
2018*Sunnyside20Desert View13
2019DESERT VIEW 20Sunnyside 6
2021Desert View29SUNNYSIDE21
2022*Sunnyside 16Desert View 6
2023Sunnyside35DESERT VIEW 14
2024Desert View 29SUNNYSIDE 28 (OT)

SCORING

SUNNYSIDE 7, DESERT VIEW 0

SUNNYSIDE 14, DESERT VIEW 0

SUNNYSIDE 14, DESERT VIEW 7

GAME TIED AT 14

SUNNYSIDE 21, DESERT VIEW 14

GAME TIED AT 21

SUNNYSIDE 28, DESERT VIEW 21 in OT

DESERT VIEW 29, SUNNYSIDE 28 FINAL in OT

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.

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