2025 High School Football

The Mooney Team High School Football Report: Sunnyside holds off Mica Mountain for signature win

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Thomas Romack, center, praised Sunnyside’s relentless effort against Mica Mountain on Friday. (Kevin Murphy / All Sports Tucson).

Sunnyside fended off a second-half comeback bid by the defending 4A state champions, holding on for a thrilling 14-10 victory at home over Mica Mountain on Friday night.

After taking a 14-0 lead into halftime, the Blue Devils (3-1) found themselves on the ropes as the Thunderbolts (2-2) roared back in the third quarter. Mica Mountain’s Ben Weinzinger broke loose for an 80-yard touchdown run and a 41-yard field goal by Riley Carson cut the deficit to four points.

With just over three minutes left in the game Sunnyside defensive back Chris Gallego ripped the ball loose near the red zone, and the Blue Devils recovered. Sunnyside fumbled on the next drive, giving Mica Mountain one last chance from midfield, but the Blue Devils’ defense held, stopping the Thunderbolts on a fourth-and-2 from the 38-yard line to seal the win.

Sunnyside head coach Thomas Romack reflected on a lesson from his longtime mentor, former Blue Devils coach Glenn Posey, when speaking about the importance of a signature win. Romack served as defensive coordinator for Posey before taking over head coaching duties in 2022 and previously worked as an assistant with Posey at Pima Community College.

“He (Posey) always talked about how you need a signature win to send you up, projected forward for the rest of the season to create some momentum,” Romack said. “My wife comes up to me, and she’s like, ‘Hey, way to get the monkey off your back,’ because so many times have we been in these late-game situations where we don’t finish.”

Romack attributed the victory to a relentless defensive effort that was not present in the team’s first three games against Casa Grande Vista Grande, Pueblo and Gilbert Campo Verde.

“We preach a lot about energy and effort,” he said. “I think the difference between the last three weeks and this night was we didn’t have any drop-off.”

Sunnyside’s defense stifled the Thunderbolts for most of the game, with Ismael Martinez making two key plays just before halftime. Martinez forced a fumble in the red zone and came away with an interception on back-to-back defensive series. His interception led to a touchdown, swinging the momentum in Sunnyside’s favor.

“I’ve been watching countless hours of film this week, and I just knew the play was coming. I just had to be a playmaker,” Martinez said of the interception.

Romack praised Martinez’s football IQ and his willingness to make big plays. He recalled a conversation with Martinez earlier in the week where they discussed the defensive coverage.

“We were talking Monday about that exact concept, and you’re playing the coverage where he should be dropping back. He’s like, ‘Coach, I can jump it, I can jump it,’ ” Romack said. “And I just told him, ‘Look, man, if you get burnt, I’m gonna chew you out. But if you make a play, you bet your butt that I’m gonna be celebrating with you.’ And that’s exactly what he did. Big-time players make big-time plays, and especially in big-time games.”

Martinez mentioned the team’s challenging offseason training, where they were without a weight room as it was being remodeled, as a character-building experience.

“We just have a strong bond together, and we know how to work with each other, how to handle adversity and we really try to change the culture around here,” he said.

Offensively, the Blue Devils primarily relied on the running attack. Anthony Sanchez opened the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run, and Jaque’veon Greene hauled in a tipped pass in the end zone to extend the lead to 14-0 just 15 seconds before halftime.

After the game, two-way standout Gio Leyva was named a 2025 Arizona Bowl All-Star in a brief on-field ceremony. Leyva said the honor was a culmination of his hard work.

“It means a lot. It just shows that all of the hours I’ve been putting in trying to be a leader, not only coming out here, but putting in work by myself. It just means everything to me,” he said. “Just because I’ve been fighting for this forever. I’ve been through countless obstacles. Everything has tried to step in my way. I just make sure I get over it.”

Romack praised Leyva’s leadership throughout the game, noting his impact went beyond the stat sheet.

“He was the one on the sideline telling guys to stay calm, telling guys to bring energy, being the vocal leader on the defense, being that level head on offense when we started to sputter there in the second half,” Romack said. “When you put the team first before yourself, you get to reap the rewards of that. So, I’m super proud of him. I’m really happy that he earned that.”

Sunnyside plays at Nogales (2-2) on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Mica Mountain hosts Sahuarita (1-3) on Friday at 7 p.m.

FOLLOW @KEVINMURFEE ON TWITTER! ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com writer Kevin Murphy was born and raised in Tucson, and has followed Arizona Wildcats athletics since childhood. Murphy is a journalist product manager with the Green Valley News the Sahuarita Sun. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.

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