SIERRA VISTA — Buena senior running back Michael Lujan reached 2,000 career rushing yards, and head coach Joe Thomas got his 50th victory in the Colts’ 42-28 win over Tucson High in the 5A Sonoran opener for both teams.
“It was a nice battle,” said Thomas, who is 50-51 in his 11th season at Buena, 50-31 in the last nine years. “It was our first region game, so we knew we had a tough road. We still have some tough games left, so it was nice to pick up that win over a good Tucson team.”
After a rain delay, Tucson (2-2) and Buena (3-1) got underway a little after 9 p.m.
The first quarter started slowly for both offenses. On its first defensive drive, Tucson was flying around, capping off with a sack by senior defensive tackle Taysean Romero and junior defensive end Chase Mohrland.
Tucson’s Taysean Romero and Chase Mohrland get a combined sack on the first drive.
Buena answered with a sack of its own. Senior linebacker Trenton Williams got to senior quarterback Derek Mesa to take Tucson out of field-goal range.
Buena’s second offensive drive started a huge night for Lujan. Starting the drive off with an 18-yard run. Another run got Lujan over 2,000 career rushing yards; one play later, he ran it in to put Buena on the board, making it 7-0 after the first quarter.
Big plays from Michael Lujan against Tucson.
“Big shoutout to my line. Without them, I wouldn’t even reach that goal,” Lujan said.
After another Tucson drive stalled, their defense continued to hold strong. Romero got two straight sacks to end a Buena drive and give Tucson good field position.
After getting the ball back, Tucson capitalized on the good field position, ending its drive with a touchdown from Mesa to senior wide receiver Malaki Hiadzi Cunningham.
Derek Mesa finds Malaki Hiadzi Cunningham to put Tucson on the board.
The first play after Tucson scored, Buena answered right back with a short pass from senior quarterback Kaleb Layton to junior running back Ricardo Brooks for a 76-yard touchdown. It was only the start of a big second quarter for Buena.
Ricardo Brooks takes it to the house with a short pass from Kaleb Layton.
On Tucson’s next drive, Buena senior cornerback Jayden Thomas made an interception. Later on the offensive drive, Thomas scored on a deep pass from Layton, putting Buena up 21-7.
Jayden Thomas picks off Mesa, leading to his touchdown.
Tucson High responded quickly with a screen pass from Mesa to Noah Chanez for a 64-yard touchdown.
Mesa connects with Noah Chanez on a 76-yard touchdown pass.
The quick score wouldn’t give Tucson’s defense enough rest. Buena methodically ran the ball downfield, ending it with a 21-yard run by Lujan for his second touchdown of the night.
Before halftime, junior wide receiver Isaac Fieros fumbled the ball, giving Buena another chance to score. They took advantage of the turnover. Layton found Brooks for the second time to make the score 35-14 going into the half.
Isaac Fieros’ fumble leads to Brooks’ second touchdown of the night.
The third quarter was similar to the first quarter; instead of exchanging sacks, they exchanged turnovers.
To start the second half, Tucson went on a promising drive, which ended when Mesa’s pass intended for Chanez was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted. Tucson responded by forcing a turnover of its own. Senior cornerback Oliver Simmers made a big hit to force a fumble.
Tucson and Buena exchange turnovers to start the second half.
Before the end of the quarter, Tucson took advantage of the fumble, with Chavez running it in. Tucson would fail the two-point attempt, making it 35-20 heading into the fourth quarter.
Tucson’s defense made another stop, giving the ball back to Mesa and the offense. Tucson got within one score after Chanez ran it in for his third touchdown of the night. The two-point conversion was good this time around.
Tucson tried to tie the game after the defense got another stop, but the Buena defense stepped up to maintain the lead. Junior defensive back Colton Garrett made an interception.
Colton Garrett picks off Mesa to give his offense the ball back
After the interception, Buena continued to run the clock out and would extend its lead with a 30-yard touchdown run from Lujan.
“It felt good to kind of ice the game for the team. I know it was a tight game with these guys (Tucson), they wanted it bad, but I feel like we wanted it more,” Lujan said.
The next drive, senior cornerback Gabriel Rodriguez made another interception, sealing the game for Buena.
Buena looks to continue its momentum, traveling to play Marana on Friday.
Tucson will play Vista Grande at Casa Grande on Friday.
Both games take place at 7 p.m.
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