Catalina Foothills persevered to a 21-17 season-opening victory Thursday night over Ironwood Ridge in Daniel Sainz’s return as the Falcons’ head coach after a one-year absence to devote time to his National Guard duties.
“That was a huge win for these guys, especially after last season, getting that confidence and getting a great opponent to start off,” said Sainz, noting Catalina Foothills’ season a year ago in which the Falcons finished 2-8.
“It was a good test for us to see where we were at in the offseason,” he added.
Mental errors cost Catalina Foothills on its first two drives, stalling the Falcons close to midfield. The first one was due to a false start when attempting to get Ironwood Ridge’s defense to jump offside. Their second one started off promising, thanks to a long kickoff return by senior wide receiver Matthew Seibert. Ultimately, back-to-back penalties would end their second drive.
Ironwood Ridge chewed up most of the clock on their first drive, running the ball down the field, converting on short third and fourth downs. Its drive would end on a 22-yard run by senior quarterback Jaiden Martinez, putting Ironwood Ridge on the board first, making it 7-0 after the first quarter.
As it looked like Ironwood Ridge was going to drive down the field again, Catalina Foothills junior linebacker Mattias Johansson sacked Martinez, making it fourth and long. The next play, the snap went over the head of Ironwood Ridge’s senior punter, Isaac Rhonehouse, preventing him to get the punt off, setting up Catalina Foothills deep in Nighthawk territory.
Catalina Foothills would capitalize on the good field position by connecting on a 20-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Isaac Kirkendall to Seibert.
Catalina Foothills quarterback Isaac Kirdendall connects with Matthew Seibert for a 20-yard touchdown to tie the game at seven apiece.
Ironwood Ridge answered with a Rhonehouse field goal with over a minute left. That was still too much time for Catalina Foothills; the Falcons would drive down the field and punch it in from 5 yards by senior running back Jack Cartwright with 10 seconds left. Catalina Foothills led 14-10 going into halftime.
Catalina Foothills went into its bag of tricks to start the second half by kicking an onside kick and recovering the ball. The risk didn’t pay off; later in the drive, the Falcons turned the ball over on downs.
Ironwood Ridge would continue its ground attack using a combination of senior running backs Cruz Valdivia, Bryson Seedal and Martinez. On a fourth and goal, Martinez ran it in from 5 yards on the quarterback keeper for his second touchdown of the night with 3:46 left in the third quarter.
Ironwood Ridge quarterback Jaiden Martinez runs in on a 4th-and-goal to give them a 17-14 lead.
Catalina Foothills answered back with a touchdown of its own — a 25-yard pass from Kirkendall to senior Zac Mendola, giving the Falcons their 21-17 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Ironwood Ridge had two opportunities to retake the lead, but failed to capitalize on them. Missing a field goal with 8:06 left on the clock and turning it over on downs with 3:20 left. Catalina Foothills would run out the clock, giving them their first-ever victory over Ironwood Ridge.
“Our biggest thing we can do is battle through and learn from our mistakes in this game, see where we can capitalize, make the plays we need to make, and then push forward,” Sainz said.
What’s Next
Catalina Foothills will look to start the season 2-0, hosting Phoenix North Canyon.
Ironwood Ridge looks to bounce back as it travels to Gilbert to play Campo Verde.
Both games will take place next Friday at 7 p.m.
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