ALLSPORTSTUCSON.COM CONTINUES ITS 50 POSTS FOR THE 50-DAY COUNTDOWN TO THE 2025 SEASON THAT STARTS AUG. 22 FOR SOME SOUTHERN ARIZONA SCHOOLS WITH A LOOK AT THE TOP 2A SOUTH I GAMES TO WATCH THIS SEASON FOR EACH PROGRAM. CATCH UP WITH ALL THE POSTS BY CLICKING HERE.
RELATED: 2A SOUTH I SCHEDULES AND RETURNING 2A ALL-CONFERENCE AND ALL-REGION SELECTIONS
2A SOUTH I
BISBEE
- Sept. 5, at Douglas. The Bisbee-Douglas series, the second-oldest high school football rivalry in the nation, first began in 1906 with Bisbee winning 7-6. Douglas won the rematch later that year, 18-0. The teams often played two games in a season during their early inception. That’s why the game Sept. 5 is the 155th meeting in the historic rivalry. Bisbee won back The Pick trophy, which goes to the winner of the game, last season with a 26-20 victory at home. Douglas won it the previous three years (24-21 in 2021 in Douglas, 10-8 in 2022 at Bisbee and 39-38 in 2023 at Douglas). Douglas leads the rivalry 84-62-8.
PALO VERDE
- Sept. 26, Tombstone at home. The Titans’ region home opener takes place after they begin region play at Tanque Verde on Sept. 5. By the time Palo Verde faces the Yellow Jackets, it will have played more than half the schedule (five games). Defeating Tombstone at home could make for a momentum build with games against Catalina and Santa Rita afterward. The Titans then wrap up the regular season with a home game against Bisbee on Oct. 17. Tombstone has defeated the Titans the previous two seasons by scores of 40-7 in 2023 and 49-14 to close last season in the game at Palo Verde.
SANTA RITA
- Aug. 22, Catalina at home. The two struggling TUSD programs play each other in the season opener with each having the opportunity to start on a high note. The Eagles, who were 0-10 last year, have not won a game since the 2021 season. They are on a 14-game losing streak. They played only the first two games in 2022 before having to cancel the rest of the season because of a lack of able players and all of 2023, playing only a junior varsity schedule instead. A victory over Catalina could help start restoring pride in the program.
TANQUE VERDE
- Oct. 3, Bisbee at home. After starting 0-5 in the series that dates to 2011, Tanque Verde won games in convincing fashion against Bisbee in 2022 (57-0 score at home) and 2023 (26-8) before losing at Bisbee 35-21 last season. The loss to the Pumas last season essentially knocked Tanque Verde out of playoff contention (the Hawks’ third consecutive loss). Tanque Verde will want to avenge that loss before hosting Highland Prep and traveling to Tombstone to close the regular season.
TOMBSTONE
- Sept. 12, Santa Cruz Valley at home. Tombstone, which underwent a coaching change from Dominik Bonilla to Jerry Rhoades, is hoping change can extend to this year’s outcome against Santa Cruz Valley in the early-season non-region game. The Yellow Jackets lost 49-14 at Santa Cruz Valley in the first round of the 2A state playoffs in 2023 and are winless in three games against the Dust Devils dating to 2016. Tombstone lost 64-7 in 2016 and a whopping 89-0 in 2017. The game against Santa Cruz Valley is in the middle of a tough four-game stretch for the Yellow Jackets (home against Pima, at Benson, home against the Dust Devils, and then at Willcox).
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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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