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 A LIST OF TOP CLASS OF 2026 DEFENSIVE BACKS. CATCH UP WITH ALL THE POSTS BY CLICKING HERE.
Player to watch this season: Tanque Verde senior QB Rocco Haggard, who is 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds with mobility. Legendary coach Jeff Scurran, who was at Tanque Verde tonight for the scheduled scrimmage involving Sabino, knows a thing or two about quality QBs. He raved about… pic.twitter.com/cQ0THNb5hO
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) August 14, 2025
TOP CLASS OF 2026 SOUTHERN ARIZONA DEFENSIVE BACKS
Honor selections made by region coaches following last season.Honors are listed by region - 1 indicates first-team selection, 2 is second team and H is honorable mention.
*Denotes player who was also an all-conference selection.
Note that CDO and Vista Grande were 4A programs last season.
| Player | School | Ht | Wt | Hnr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julian Santa Cruz | Empire | 5-8 | 150 | 4A1 |
| Davian Fimbres | Douglas | 5-9 | 135 | 4A1 |
| Adrian Tellez | Sabino | 5-10 | 145 | 3A1* |
| Soldier Blouir | Florence | 6-1 | 160 | 3A1 |
| KJ Watts | Florence | 5-8 | 150 | 3A1 |
| Wyatt Stenson | Florence | 6-2 | 170 | 3A1 |
| Josiah Jones | Pusch Ridge | 6-0 | 160 | 3A1 |
| Rocco Haggard | Tanque Verde | 6-4 | 190 | 2A1 |
| Cash Dickey | CDO | 6-4 | 170 | 5A2 |
| Oliver Simmers | Tucson | 6-0 | 185 | 5A2 |
| Jaxsen Philistine | Walden Grove | 5-10 | 160 | 4A2 |
| Justin Hurtado | Douglas | 5-6 | 145 | 4A2 |
| Alex Delgado | San Tan Foothills | 5-9 | 160 | 3A2 |
| Jabari Thomas | Tombstone | 5-11 | 187 | 2A2 |
| Rawley Evans | Benson | 5-9 | 145 | 2A2 |
| Cedar Haynie | St. David | 5-5 | 145 | 1A2 |
| Axel Martinez | Salpointe | 5-11 | 170 | 6AH |
| John Perales | Flowing Wells | 5-8 | 165 | 5AH |
| Quinn Van | Flowing Wells | 5-9 | 165 | 5AH |
| Carmello Davis | Cienega | 5-11 | 160 | 5AH |
| Michael Davis | Mountain View | 6-0 | 165 | 5AH |
| Jalen Horn | Cienega | 5-10 | 165 | 5AH |
| Brenden Lawrence | CDO | 5-9 | 182 | 5AH |
| David Luke | CDO | 5-8 | 150 | 5AH |
| Troy Sandoval | Vista Grande | 5-10 | 152 | 5AH |
| Jack Youmans | Flowing Wells | 5-9 | 135 | 5AH |
| Kenzy Couch | Tucson | 5-11 | 165 | 5AH |
| Nico Franco | Mountain View | 5-10 | 202 | 5AH |
| Khaleb Johnson | Maricopa | 5-8 | 178 | 5AH |
| Fernando Soto | Desert View | 5-11 | 170 | 5AH |
| David Gutierrez | Sahuaro | 5-8 | 165 | 4AH |
| Miguel Blanco | Pueblo | 5-8 | 150 | 4AH |
| Adam Armstrong | Empire | -- | -- | 4AH |
| Matthew Felix | Rio Rico | 5-10 | 185 | 4AH |
| Wheeler Delancey | Walden Grove | 6-0 | 165 | 4AH |
| Fernando Garcia | Pueblo | 5-7 | 145 | 4AH |
| Daniel Martinez | Catalina | 5-7 | 150 | 2AH |
| Jacob Maclagan | Tombstone | 5-7 | 140 | 2AH |
| Kason Garcia | Baboquivari | -- | -- | 1AH |
TOP 10 RETURNING CLASS OF 2026 DEFENSIVE BACKS IN INTERCEPTIONS
| DB | School | Tkl | INT |
| Fimbres | Douglas | 35 | 7 |
| Santa Cruz | Empire | 46 | 6 |
| Philistine | WG | 78 | 6 |
| Armstrong | Empire | 27 | 5 |
| Haggard | TV | 46 | 4 |
| Youmans | FW | 17 | 4 |
| Watts | Florence | 63 | 3 |
| Simmers | Tucson | 28 | 3 |
| Thomas | Tombstone | 34 | 3 |
| Davis | MtV | 28 | 3 |
| Sandoval | VG | 21 | 3 |
| Delancey | WG | 10 | 3 |
| Martinez | Catalina | 28 | 3 |
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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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