No. 4 Mica Mountain (12-0) at No. 1 Yuma Catholic (11-1)
Date: Friday
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Yuma Catholic coach: Rhett Stallworth (190-47, 19th year overall; 176-30, 16th year at Yuma Catholic). Won state championships in 2011, 2013 and 2014. Lost in last year’s 4A title game against CDO.
Mica Mountain coach: Pat Nugent (32-9, fourth season at Mica Mountain; 170-66, 22nd season overall). Nugent is attempting to advance to his second championship game. He reached the championship game with CDO in 2007, when the Dorados lost a close one to Scottsdale Saguaro 23-21. He has now reached 12 wins in a season twice; the other 12-win season was in 2007 when CDO finished 12-2.
When Mica Mountain has the ball:
Run percentage: 60.7 percent (301 rushes)
Pass percentage: 39.3 percent (195 passes)
Mica Mountain senior QB Jayden Thoreson has passed for 1,410 yards after compiling 2,304 last season but Thoreson has played mostly clean with only two interceptions and 24 touchdowns. He has completed 94 of 172 pass attempts. … He had one of his best games last week in the quarterfinal win over Phoenix Thunderbird, completing 8 of 10 pass attempts for 206 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. … The Thunderbolts’ running game took a hit with Conner Hangartner suffering a season-ending knee injury in the season opener. Hangartner, an inspirational leader, was in uniform against Phoenix Thunderbird and entered when the Thunderbolts went into Victory Formation. … RB Josiah Thornwell has stepped up to gain 831 yards on 115 carries with 13 touchdowns. RB Jordan Perry has contributed 472 yards on 79 carries with five touchdowns. … TE Jimmy Leon leads the Thunderbolts with 373 yards on 24 receptions with 12 touchdowns. In the win last week, he caught a pass one-handed along the sideline, stiff-armed a defender and ran the rest of the way for a 72-yard touchdown. … Yuma Catholic LB Rocky Stallworth, the coach’s son, leads the Shamrocks with a phenomenal 185 tackles (16 for loss) with 10 sacks. … LB Shaun Carter has 154 tackles (12 for loss). … FS David Haines leads Yuma Catholic with three interceptions. … The Shamrocks have recorded 10 interceptions and 17 fumble recoveries.
When Yuma Catholic has the ball:
Run percentage: 45.5 percent (255 rushes)
Pass percentage: 55.5 percent (305 passes)
Yuma Catholic has a history of prolific passers, including Rhett Stallworth’s son Richard, who holds the state record for career passing yards of 12,590 from 2020 to 2022. … Junior QB Nash Ott has passed for 2,680 yards while completing 163 of 256 pass attempts with 34 touchdowns and nine interceptions. … Senior WR Sir Stokes is one of the top prospects in the state with 59 receptions for 1,230 yards with 13 touchdowns … RB Brenton Beck, a sophomore, leads the Shamrocks with 781 yards rushing on 136 carries. … Mica Mountain’s strength is its defense, which has given up only nine touchdowns all season. The Thunderbolts have outscored the opposition 468-64. … Mica Mountain, led by defensive coordinator Brett Darling, has six players with at least 40 tackles. LB Broden Schmidt, a junior, is the leader with 76 tackles (four for loss). DE Jimmy Leon and S Domonik Leon (no relation) are next with 58 tackles each. Jimmy Leon has 20.5 for loss, including 14 sacks this season. He has 36 sacks in his career. … Junior S/P Riley Carson leads the Thunderbolts with five interceptions. He is also averaging 41.4 yards per punt and has landed eight of his 19 punts inside the opponent’s 20 this season. … Mica Mountain has forced 32 turnovers (15 interceptions and 17 fumbles recovered). … Mica Mountain has 10 games of allowing the opponent a touchdown or less (four shutouts).
Nugent said: “When you pass, you have to put the quarterback in the pocket, so our D-line is going to get foaming at the mouth to get after them. They have some great athletes. They’ve had a great year. Yuma Catholic has a great program. We’re excited. We feel like there’s some great football to be played right now. We haven’t traveled that far in a long time. I think we’ll be ready. We’ll have a great week of practice. Practicing on Thanksgiving Day, every coach and player should be dreaming about. We’re excited about that. Our dream is to win a state title. We’ve been to the state semifinals (last year against CDO). We’ve been there. This isn’t new to us. Now we get past this hump, that’s the goal.”
MICA MOUNTAIN-YUMA CATHOLIC LEADERS
| Mica Mountain | Avg | Category | Yuma Catholic | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josiah Thornwell | 69.3 | Rushing Yards Per Game | Benton Beck | 65.1 |
| Jayden Thoreson | 117.5 | Passing Yards Per Game | Nash Ott | 223.3 |
| Jimmy Leon | 31.1 | Receiving Yards Per Game | Sir Stokes | 111.8 |
| Jayden Thoreson | 120.7 | Total Yards Per Game | Nash Ott | 221.6 |
| Broden Schmidt | 7.6 | Tackles Per Game | Rocky Stallworth | 15.4 |
| Jimmy Leon | 1.2 | Sacks Per Game | Rocky Stallworth | 0.8 |
| Jimmy Leon | 7.7 | Points Per Game | Hunter Hancock | 7.8 |
Series record
First meeting between the schools (Mica Mountain is in its third full season at the varsity level).
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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 five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District
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