2024 High School Football

Pusch Ridge earns first 3A state championship since 2015

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Pusch Ridge coach Kent Middleton celebrates a 3A state championship with his team (Javier Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

GLENDALE — A year after Sabino of the 3A South won the 3A state championship, regional rival No. 4 Pusch Ridge earned the same achievement on Saturday night — a 26-7 triumph over No. 2 Waddell ALA-West Foothills at Mountain Ridge High School.

The Lions (13-1) won their second state championship, the first since 2015.

Kent Middleton’s team finished the season winning 12 straight games.

“They are great, great kids; they’ve got incredible character,” said Middleton, a fifth-year coach whose teams reached the 3A semifinals in 2020 and 2022 before breaking through this season. “They’re close. They’re tight-knit.”

ALA-West Foothills (13-1) lost its first game of the season, playing for the first time without their top rusher and defender, running back and defensive end JJ Brutus, who broke his fibula in last week’s win over Thatcher in the 3A semifinals.

Brutus’ backup in the offensive backfield, Kenyon Rosenthal, was also out because of a broken ankle suffered in practice.

Hunter Cotten, a middle linebacker who led ALA-West Foothills in tackles and is a fullback, also did not play because of an injury.

“We were playing with all three new running backs tonight, so that was hard, but we had some chances,” ALA-West Foothills coach Chad Mitton said. “We had a great year. Our football team is all back, other than JJ … We’ve just got to stay healthy and get stronger. 

“We probably have some younger kids that’ll add in, too. I expect to be back here.”

Pusch Ridge is now a two-time state championship program after winning it all in 2015 (Javier Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

Pusch Ridge overcame a 7-0 deficit to ALA-West Foothills in the first quarter.

Mitton’s son, Hudson Mitton, a junior quarterback, led the Guardians on a 50-yard scoring possession in their second drive of the game. 

Hudson Mitton’s 33-yard pass to Amr Hassan set up a quarterback keeper to the edge for an 11-yard touchdown with 2:14 left in the first quarter. 

ALA-West Foothills’ next two possessions of the half ended with an interception by Pusch Ridge cornerback Elliot Lovett and a fumble recovered by defensive lineman Logan Carey, both of which were in Guardian territory.

Before Lovett’s interception, Pusch Ridge tied the game at 7 on quarterback Jacob Newborn’s 4-yard touchdown run with 10:43 left in the second quarter.

Newborn completed all three of his pass attempts in the drive for 54 yards, including a 32-yard connection to Lovett that placed the ball at the Guardian 5. 

Blake Reed also had a run of 25 yards in the possession.

Reed and Newborn, two senior captains on offense, were essential to Pusch Ridge’s success.

Reed is a super senior who was granted another year of eligibility by the AIA after dislocating a hip and suffering a bone fracture in a preseason scrimmage that kept him sidelined last year. 

Reed gained 133 yards on 18 carries, which included a 67-yard burst on the game’s last play from scrimmage before Pusch Ridge went into Victory Formation.

“It’s amazing to win with all these guys; all the glory to God that he allowed us to win and allowed me to come back and play football this year,” Reed said. “It’s all God. It’s all God.”

Newborn bided his time behind Bubba Mustain at quarterback the last two years and made the most of his opportunity this year as one of the state’s top dual-threat quarterbacks. 

He completed 14 of 21 passes for 200 yards and rushed 14 times for 58 yards with two touchdowns. 

“I love these guys; it was so awesome to see the brotherhood come together,” Newborn said. “It’s started way back in January. So much hard work has paid off. We’ve been through a lot of adversity through that. We’ve lost loved ones.

“It’s been real hard through that but we came together. We could have easily gone our own ways, but we came together.”

One person close to the Pusch Ridge family who passed away early this season was former Ed Doherty Award candidate Brysen Barrios, a standout Class of 2023 running back with the Lions.

Lovett’s interception at the ALA-West Foothills 40 set up a 25-yard field goal by Tyler Nolan with 3:31 left in the first half.

Five players after Carey’s fumble recovery at the Guardian 16, Reed barreled toward the end zone on a 5-yard run but the ball popped loose before he reached the goal-line. Pusch Ridge lineman Noah Morrison pounced on the ball in the end zone for the touchdown.

After the PAT was blocked, the Lions led 16-7 with 24 seconds left before halftime.

Both teams were forced to punt in their first possessions of the second half before Nolan drilled a 33-yard field goal with 3:34 left in the third quarter to increase the lead to 19-7. 

Indicative of Pusch Ridge’s stout defense — one that allowed only eight touchdowns in its 12-game winning streak to end the season — ALA-West Foothills was forced to punt four times, had three turnovers, and a loss of downs in eight of its nine possessions in the game.

“We’re not real big, but we’re strong,” Middleton said of his defenders. “We’re quick, very agile and tough. Our kids are tough. You take a look at our defense and there’s maybe one 200-pounder-plus in that group.

“But they’re so physical and strong, fast and very intelligent.”

ALA-West Foothills had the opportunity to cut in the lead after Nolan’s second field goal, but the Guardians turned the ball over on downs at the Pusch Ridge 3 with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.

The three-back formation with a heavy-set line failed to reach the line to gain on a fourth-and-2 play.

“He made some plays, and he kept us in the game there,” the elder Mitton said of his son. “We had to score down on the goal line and they held us. We went to our bread-and-butter play, and they stopped us.”

Hudson Mitton connected with Cannon Trythall on passes of 29 and 39 yards in the drive. 

Mitton was pressured most of the game and was sacked four times. He completed 8 of 18 pass attempts for 118 yards. 

Trythall had three catches for 85 yards.

Carson Callister rushed 13 times for 53 yards as part of ALA-West Foothills’ offense that gained 183 yards of total offense.

On the Guardians’ next possession following Pusch Ridge’s near-goal-line stand, a sack by Lions senior defensive end Charles Palmer led to a punt.

Pusch Ridge proceeded to go 84 yards on 10 plays to put an exclamation point on the game with Newborn’s 1-yard scoring sneak with 2:59 left, increasing the lead to 26-7.

Two plays into ALA-West Foothills’ next possession, safety John Sunukjian intercepted a pass. 

The celebration was on.

“We’ve had some really great players come through our program, just great high school football players,” Middleton said. “Some have gone on to the next level. It’s a testament to our kids. It’s a testament to our community.

“Our athletic directors and the support we get is just phenomenal. A lot of people are a part of this. A ton of people are a part of this. It’s hard work but we were willing to do it. It’s really cool.”

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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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