PHOENIX — The Canyon del Oro Dorados opened up the 2025 season with a statement, shutting out the Trevor G. Browne Bruins 49-0 on the road Friday night. While CDO coach Scott McKee knows there’s always room for improvement, he acknowledged it was a solid win for the program and a great way to get the season underway.
“We have a lot of things we have to clean up, there’s no doubt about that, but we’re moving in the correct direction,” McKee said.
Things got off to a fast start as Cody Fimbres took the opening kickoff to the house for a touchdown. The extra-point attempt by Reece Douglas was good, making it 7-0 early as the Dorados came in and set the tone.
On the Bruins’ opening drive, a fumble near the 30-yard line was recovered by the Dorados at the Browne 22. A flag set up the Dorados for a first-and-5, where Peyton Strang was able to connect with Joshua Schiffer for a 17-yard touchdown pass. The kick was good, making it 14-0 less than three minutes into the game.
Before the first quarter was over, the Dorados were able to strike again, this time handing the ball off to Ryan Luke — brother of CDO great and Arizona sophomore Kayden Luke — who punched it in for six more. The kick from Douglas was good, extending the lead to 21-0 with 2:46 still remaining in the first quarter.
On Browne’s following drive, the quarterback fumbled the ball right into the hands of Cody Milne, who took the ball all the way back to the end zone for another touchdown. Early in the second quarter, the Dorados were already up 28-0.
After the touchdown, officials realized they were running 15 minute quarters instead of 12 minute quarters and abruptly took 3:00 off the clock, making it 10:05 left before halftime.
The Bruins got the ball back and again attempted to march down the field, but another fumble gave the ball back to the Dorados at the Bruins’ 37. It only took the Dorados three snaps to progress to the end zone, capping off the drive with a 3-yard run by Ryan Luke. The kick from Douglas was good, extending the lead to 35-0 with 6:34 remaining before the half.
On CDO’s next possession, it was a quick one, two punch to get to the end zone. First, Strang was able to find Diego Torres for a gain of 12. Then, Brenden Lawrence ran the ball 21 yards for a touchdown. The kick was once again good, making it 42-0 right before halftime.
McKee said while his team was up by a significant amount at the half, there were still a lot of corrections they could make on the field.
Coming out of the half, there was a running clock as the Dorados were looking to close out the game.
The Bruins got the ball to start things off and slowly but surely were progressing until a pick-s6 by Lucas Cachoeira put an end to any optimism for Browne. The kick by Douglas was good, making it 49-0 with around 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
While they may have been discouraged, the Bruins kept fighting, making their way down the field once again. With about 6:30 remaining in the game, the Bruins were picked off again, this one coming from Bryce Wiglesworth.
From there, CDO was pretty much able to run out the clock before giving the ball back to the Bruins with enough time left for three plays.
For Canyon del Oro, it was a solid performance on both sides of the ball.
McKee took time to shout out the offensive line and their efforts the entire night.
“None of that goes without the offensive line,” McKee said. “Jordan (Hitchye), who coaches the offensive line, is one of the best in the state. He’s got a young group and they’re going to continue to develop now and in the future. But it starts with the offensive line.”
He also discussed the capabilities of Strang and how he helps elevate the offense.
“We’ve got a guy at quarterback who’s able to hit different areas,” McKee said. “The kid we had last year was outstanding, he gave us great leadership, and he was the one who kind of opened the book up to kind of adding more of these passing things, and then Peyton has kind of followed his wings of being a good leader and finding some other targets.”
The Dorados will now prepare to take on rival Mica Mountain next week at home. Mica Mountain comes into the game off a 41-8 victory over Poston Butte on Thursday night. McKee said this week that the Dorados will be focusing on the fundamentals as they prepare for the Thunderbolts.
“You’ve gotta be able to run the ball and stop the run,” McKee said. “(Mica Mountain) coach Jay (Campos) will run a really good offensive system. We’ve watched them the last three weeks, and it’s gotten better every week for them. He’s an experienced play caller, so he does a really good job of setting things up.
“They’re very good at what they do. It’s a big ball game for us, but we’re excited about seeing where we stand in that. We’re going to do our work to prepare for it, and I feel good about the kids I’ve got in my room, I promise you that.”
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