Kent Middleton has never meddled in mediocrity or endured a losing season despite significant losses due to graduation in his six years at Pusch Ridge.
“We’ve got real good football players who are committed and dedicated,” Middleton reasoned after the Lions improved to 4-0 after handling previously unbeaten Catalina Foothills 35-0 on Thursday night at Pusch Ridge.
“They do things the right way.”
The players develop that culture through a coaching staff that includes Middleton and mainstays Brent Bartz as offensive coordinator, Jeff Drescher as defensive coordinator and Calvin Knox as special teams coordinator. The staff, which also includes former Arizona receiver Lamar Lovett as an assistant over the last two decades, has been a constant presence over the last few years, while Pusch Ridge’s roster has fluctuated greatly.
Pusch Ridge coach Kent Middleton talks about his program being highly successful year after year despite significant losses due to graduation every year. The Lions (4-0) are on a 16-game winning streak dating to last year’s run to a 3A title. pic.twitter.com/fDHhJQb7Th
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) September 12, 2025
Look at this sequence:
Evan Lovett, a son of Lamar, capped his senior season by gaining more than 1,400 rushing yards in the COVID-19-affected season of 2020. Kannon Jewell, one of the Lions’ top tacklers at linebacker, also exhausted his eligibility after that season.
The Lions went 8-3 the following season.
Ryan Fontaine, as a senior in 2021, completed nearly 70 percent of his passes (153 of 219) for 1,967 yards with 19 touchdowns while also rushing for 589 yards on 128 carries with 14 touchdowns. Senior captain Javier Grajeda also rushed for nearly 1,000 yards.
Pusch Ridge was 11-2 the next season after advancing to the 3A semifinals.
The late Brysen Barrios gained more than 900 yards on the ground with 18 touchdowns as a senior in 2022. The senior captain trio of lineman Will Way, receiver/safety Tyler Mustain (160 tackles as a senior) and athlete Bryce Jewell also celebrated the culmination of their four-year varsity careers that season.
The Lions qualified for the 3A playoffs the following year and finished with a 7-4 record.
Dual-threat quarterback Bubba Mustain had a senior year in 2023 that included 1,928 passing yards with 864 yards rushing with 18 touchdowns. Sack leader Sam Avery (4.5 sacks and 23 quarterback hurries) and interception threat Noah Secrest (four that season) also graduated from that team.
Pusch Ridge won the 3A state championship last season with a 13-1 record, winning its last 12 games of the season.
Jacob Newborn led the Lions to the title as a senior, completing 151 of 242 passes for 2,111 yards with 26 touchdowns and six interceptions. The top rusher — Blake Reed — and one of the leading receivers — Elliot Lovett — also graduated following the dream season. Linebacker Tyler Shoaff (141 tackles, 23 tackles for loss) and lineman Charles Palmer (7.5 sacks) were top seniors as well. Placekicker Tyler Nolan (10 of 16 field-goal attempts and 62 of 69 point-after attempts last year) is now on NAU’s roster.
The Lions, with underclassmen as most of the standouts, remain unbeaten this season and are on a 16-game winning streak extending to last year.
“It’s a testament to great players and a great coaching staff,” said Middleton, who is 51-12 since becoming head coach in 2020. “Our assistant coaches are awesome. And then our community is outstanding. Our administration is fantastic.
“We’ve had a good run. Hopefully, it continues.”
The top players for this year’s team were groomed by their predecessors, part of the culture Middleton and his staff have created at Pusch Ridge.
The productive two-quarterback system of Race Pinneo and MJ Buckner comprises juniors who practiced behind Newborn last season.
The Shoaff brothers, Dylan, a junior, and Cameron, a sophomore, are the younger siblings of Tyler.
Levi Adcock, a junior linebacker who was part of the state championship teams in football and boys basketball last year, leads Pusch Ridge with three interceptions.
The senior leaders include wideouts and defensive backs Dominic Painter, Nate Campa, Levi Secrist and Josiah Jones, and defense linemen Aaron Kenworthy and Logan Carey.
Pusch Ridge senior Dominic Painter had all 43 of his rushing yards in the second half and he also had three receptions for 25 yards in his team’s 35-0 victory over Catalina Foothills. pic.twitter.com/zy7absO5Pe
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) September 12, 2025
Painter mentioned the reason for Pusch Ridge’s continual success is the faith of the athletes who attend the Christian academy.
“Our school is primarily (based) on faith and showing out for God, for Him,” he said. “The discipline that we have — we work every week and we work hard. The discipline that we have really helps and contributes to that faith. That’s why we’re making a run right now.”
Painter had 43 yards on three carries and 25 yards on three receptions against Catalina Foothills.
Race Pinneo races 47 yards for the TD with 9:19 left 3Q.
Pinneo having one heck of a birthday performance.
Pusch Ridge leads Catalina Foothills 14-0. https://t.co/wKUKPtbXTL pic.twitter.com/FnITXClCey— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) September 12, 2025
Pinneo excelled on his birthday, rushing for 121 yards on seven carries with two touchdowns (including a 47-yard burst for a score). He also completed his first nine passes after taking over for Buckner in the second quarter and finished 13 of 15 for 112 yards with 121 yards rushing on seven carries.
Buckner rushed for 52 yards on six rushes and also completed 4 of 8 passes for 28 yards.
Cameron Shoaff finished with 92 yards on six rushes and also had an interception.
Adcock scored on a 35-yard pass from Pinneo, and Campa finished with 58 yards on six carries.
Catalina Foothills coach Daniel Sainz’s previously unbeaten team had its chances to score in the first half but had costly turnovers in Pusch Ridge territory and trailed 7-0 at halftime before the Lions pulled away to a 35-0 win. Sainz has had to balance coaching the last two… pic.twitter.com/gETIfC7kWF
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) September 12, 2025
“That’s a really good football team,” said Catalina Foothills coach Daniel Sainz, whose team entered the game with victories over 5A school Ironwood Ridge and Phoenix North Canyon.
“They’re going to compete for a 3A state championship again. You can see why they’ve won a lot of games. They just grind it out and do what they do. Big players make big plays in big games. They found a way and they did a really good job.”
Although a favorite to challenge for another region title and likely destined for a deep run again in the playoffs, Pusch Ridge’s players and coaches are not content.
Cameron Shoaff, showing his maturity despite being a sophomore, mentioned the Lions are a “work in progress every week, one game at time.”
Pusch Ridge sophomore running back/linebacker Cameron Shoaff finished with 92 yards on six carries. He also had an interception in the 35-0 win over Catalina Foothills. pic.twitter.com/TJa3v2ZIWh
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) September 12, 2025
Middleton mentioned that he was not pleased with how Pusch Ridge turned the ball over twice early in the first half despite deep penetration into Catalina Foothills territory.
The Lions led 7-0 at halftime before Pinneo and Pusch Ridge’s running game started to take over in the second half. The Lions rushed for 334 yards on 37 carries behind a line that has more size than Middleton’s previous five seasons.
“We’ve done this a little this year, and we’ve got to get out of this habit; we come out and we’re kind of sloppy,” Middleton said. “We were moving the ball well, but we turned it over twice. We’ve been doing that a little bit, and we’ve got to get out of that habit because we’re going to get popped one of these days.”
The defense did its part with the shutout, allowing Pusch Ridge to overcome its early blunders. The Lions allowed only 46 yards on the ground on 28 rushes. Catalina Foothills passed for 166 yards but completed 12 out of 34 attempts with two interceptions.
Middleton mentioned that the athleticism of his younger players is the difference in the defense.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that can run,” he said. “We have a very quick team, and we’re young on that side of the ball. They’ve embraced the scheme. They’ve embraced the hard work and work ethic.
“We’re a little bit bigger than we have been in the past, and we haven’t lost any athleticism because of that. We had to replace a great defense last year, and we show signs of it. We’re a little bit away, but we’ll keep working on it.”
Being 4-0 and carrying a 16-game winning streak with a state title in the midst of this run is “a little bit away,” according to Middleton.
That thought process is why the program never rests and creates new stories and memories every single year.
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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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