Tucson High School is turning back the clock to 1971 when the Badgers won back-to-back state titles under coach Ollie Mayfield with all-state selections Kelly Langford at running back and Mike Dawson and Mike Bailey as linemen.
The No. 2 Badgers defeated No. 15 Cienega 14-7 on Friday night at Gridley Stadium, winning their first playoff game since 1971 when Mayfield’s men beat Tempe 20-14 in what was the 3A state championship game.
In the 53 years since, Tucson went 0-7 in the playoffs, losing those games by an average margin of 30.3 points.
— 28-7 loss to Phoenix Moon Valley in 1986
— 29-17 to Phoenix South Mountain in 1988
— 43-0 to Mesa Mountain View in 2008
— 55-0 to Chandler Basha in 2011
— 37-10 to Peoria Centennial in 2013
— 49-12 to Avondale Westview in 2015
— 47-30 to Chandler Hamilton in 2016
The Badgers, now at 9-2 overall in Zach Neveleff’s second year as head coach, have earned the most wins in a season since the 1971 team went 11-1. They will host No. 7 Goodyear Desert Edge (7-4) in the 5A quarterfinals Friday at 7 p.m.
Neveleff is Tucson’s 11th coach since Mayfield (whose son Todd served as coach from 1983 to 1997).
Tucson High, which outlasted Cienega 13-7 when the teams played earlier this season at Gridley, engaged in another defensive battle with the Bobcats.
Derek Mesa completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Bruns with 4:46 left in the second quarter to put Tucson ahead 7-0.
The game involved punts and turnovers on downs until Cienega’s Julian Hainley connected with Jaden Rodgers for a 13-yard touchdown pass in the Bobcats’ first possession of the fourth quarter.
With 3:13 remaining, Bruns ran into the end zone from the 1 for the deciding score.
Neveleff is 14-7 as Tucson’s coach. The Badgers have won 13 of their last 15 games extending to last season.
WALDEN GROVE WINS FIRST PLAYOFF GAME
https://t.co/fN67IzLpBF
A good team win!@GametimeRC @SOAZFootball @TucsonStar @AZPreps365 @FB_RedWolves— Jayvon Coleman ll (@Jayvon_Coleman_) November 16, 2024
Walden Grove’s existence as a football program dates only to 2012 but the Red Wolves’ annual success creates high expectations.
Corey Noble has coached Walden Grove the last eight seasons and led the Red Wolves to four playoff appearances, all of them defeats, before they played at nemesis Phoenix Northwest Christian in a 4A first-round game Friday night.
Kaleb Layton connected with Jayvon Coleman for two touchdowns, Carlos Montoya Jr. ran 66 yards for a touchdown and Robert Cash III added a late touchdown run in Walden Grove’s 30-20 win over Northwest Christian.
In the first half, Walden Grove blocked a punt and recovered a fumble with Northwest Christian threatening near the goal line.
The Crusaders were 3-0 against Walden Grove in games in the last two seasons, including last season’s first-round game in Phoenix.
Walden Grove (8-3) will play at No. 1 Yuma Catholic (10-1) in a quarterfinal game Friday.
BUENA WINS FIRST PLAYOFF GAME SINCE 1983
Buena coach Joe Thomas was born the same year the Colts won their last playoff game before Friday’s night’s 5A first-round matchup with Casa Grande.
The No. 3 Colts (9-2) took care of No. 14 Casa Grande 65-28 to advance to the quarterfinals on Friday at home at 7 p.m. against No. 6 Buckeye Verrado (9-2).
Buena’s previous playoff victory was a 35-28 win over Glendale Cactus in the 3A quarterfinals in 1983, when legendary coach Truman Williamson was leading the program.
The Colts lost in the playoff five different years before Friday’s win. Much like what happened in Tucson’s dry spell, Buena was blown out in that 0-5 run. The Colts’ average margin of defeat was 30.6 points.
Thomas has completely changed the culture of a program that was 0-21 at the start of his tenure from 2015 to 2017.
Some of the highlights from Friday’s win (provided by ALLCITY Network Regional Director of Operations Saul Bookman, father of Buena defensive lineman Shawn Bookman):
— Two TD passes from Nash Moore to Jayden Thomas (21 yards and 43 yards)
— Andres Bonilla touchdown runs of 57, 32 and 1 yard.
— Latavis “TJ” Walker with an 82-yard interception return for a TD
— 32-yard TD pass from Moore to Walker
— 15-yard TD run by Michael Lujan
— 8-yard TD run by Moore
— 20-yard TD run by Aliaz Dyson
MICA MOUNTAIN MATCHES MOST SEASON WINS IN YOUNG PROGRAM’S HISTORY
Mica Mountain TE Jimmy Leon gets into the end zone to go up 28-0 against Coconino with 7:25 left in Q2 pic.twitter.com/RLJJF7IAEi
— BJ Media (@BJMedia1) November 16, 2024
Mica Mountain coach Pat Nugent and his staff have led the No. 4 Thunderbolts to an 11-0 start after Friday’s 45-10 win over No. 13 Flagstaff Coconino.
The 11 victories match the number last season when Mica Mountain went 11-2 with the two losses to eventual state champion Canyon del Oro.
A victory at home in the 4A quarterfinals on Friday against No. 5 Phoenix Thunderbird (10-1) provides the opportunity for Mica Mountain to earn a 12th victory for the first time.
Nugent, who came close to winning a state title at CDO and Cienega, is three wins away from achieving his first championship.
Mica Mountain is only in its third full season of varsity football.
“Today we played really good football,” Nugent said to KGUN-TV. “We got a good football team. We’re 11 and 0 right now, and we’re looking forward to hosting another game next week and keep playing as much as we can.”
Tight end/defensive end Jimmy Leon scored Mica Mountain’s first two touchdowns on a 14-yard pass from Jayden Thoreson and then a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Leon later caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Thoreson.
Josiah Thornwell, Jordan Perry and JJ Mangrum each scored on touchdown runs for the Thunderbolts and Landon Hubbard made a 46-yard field goal.
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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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