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 4A KINO GAMES TO WATCH THIS SEASON FOR EACH PROGRAM. CATCH UP WITH ALL THE POSTS BY CLICKING HERE.
RELATED: 4A KINO SCHEDULES AND RETURNING 4A ALL-CONFERENCE AND ALL-REGION SELECTIONS.
4A KINO
AMPHI
- Sept. 5, Flowing Wells at home. The closely-battled Prince Road Rivalry series will continue with the series 11-11 since 1999. Amphi will host the Caballeros in consecutive seasons after losing 34-6 last season. This will also be the first game for new head coach Stanley Richardson, who was hired from the Denver area by athletic director Tyrone Cephers to replace legendary retired coach Jorge Mendivil.
CATALINA FOOTHILLS
- Aug. 28, Ironwood Ridge at home. The return of head coach Daniel Sainz, after a year at Cienega as the offensive coordinator, will provide a good indication of how much the Falcons will be competitive from the start against a 5A school. Catalina Foothills is 0-4 against Ironwood Ridge with games played in 2003, 2004, 2011 and 2012. In the games in 2011 and 2012, Catalina Foothills lost by scores of 45-0 and 56-0. Ironwood Ridge was rolling at that time under former coach Matt Johnson.
DOUGLAS
- Sept. 5, Bisbee at home. 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 series 84-62-8.
MICA MOUNTAIN
- Sept. 12, at ALA-West Foothills. The defending 4A state champion Thunderbolts travel to play a 3A school, but it’s a high-quality one. The Guardians lost their first game of last season in the 3A state championship game against Pusch Ridge. This game also falls in the middle of an early-season three-game road swing for new coach Jay Campos, a legendary coach who replaced another legend, Pat Nugent. After opening at home against Poston Butte, Mica Mountain plays at former 4A Kino rival Canyon del Oro, ALA-West Foothills, and then Sunnyside. CDO and Sunnyside are 5A schools.
SAHUARO
- Sept. 26, Sabino at home. The eastside rivalry has grown more intense with Sabino winning three straight games before Sahuaro pulled off a 15-14 win to open last season at Sabino. The Cougars have struggled this century against the Sabercats with a 5-20 record after the series was tied 13-13 from 1974-99. Playing Sabino at home could help Sahuaro win consecutive games in the series for the first time since 2018 and 2019. The previous time that happened was way back in 1988 and 1991.
WALDEN GROVE
- Oct. 10, Mica Mountain at home. No doubt Walden Grove coach Corey Noble and the returning Red Wolves will reflect on last season’s meeting in the second-to-last game of the regular season. Walden Grove let the game slip away and lost 16-6 to the eventual 4A state champions. The Red Wolves held the Thunderbolts to a season-low 16 points, and the 10-point deficit was as close a team got to the 14-0 Mica Mountain team other than the Thunderbolts’ 17-8 win over Poston Butte in the season opener. The budding rivalry is only at its third game because Mica Mountain opened in 2020. The Thunderbolts also won 21-7 at home in 2023.
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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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