SALPOINTE LANCERS
Last year: 6-5, lost at Queen Creek Casteel 36-27 in the 6A semifinals
Head coach: Pat Ryden (15-9, third year at Salpointe; 21-23, fifth year overall)
— Salpointe continues its series with Marana, with the schools starting their seasons against each other for the fourth straight year. Salpointe won 35-14 at home in 2023, lost 27-24 at Marana in 2024 and won 20-18 last year at home. Marana’s win over Salpointe two years ago snapped the Lancers’ 27-game winning streak against Southern Arizona programs that dated to 2017. Now, Salpointe will look to build another streak off the two wins over Salpointe and Tucson last year.
— The game with Tucson will be the 69th meeting in the series that dates to 1956, according to AZFootballArchives.com. Salpointe leads the series 44-24-1. A streak of 60 straight years playing each other ended after the 2019 game Salpointe won 62-0 at Tucson behind Bijan Robinson’s 282 rushing yards on eight carries. Salpointe graduate Zach Neveleff, in his fourth year as Tucson’s coach, was the Lancers’ running backs coach at the time.
— The game against Tucson begins a four-game stretch at home that includes games against Chandler and Gilbert Highland. Chandler lost to Chandler Basha 34-7 in the Open Division championship game last December. Highland advanced to the Open Division semifinals, where it lost to Chandler.
— Basha visits Salpointe in the second-to-last game Oct. 30 in a 6A Southern game. Basha features former Salpointe quarterback Jake Rogers, son of ex-Salpointe coach Eric Rogers. Jake Rogers, a senior, transferred to Basha following his freshman season after his father was not retained as head coach. Rogers is an assistant at Basha. RB Chris Chaney (923 rushing yards and nine touchdowns) will also face his former team after transferring to Basha in January. Former Ironwood Ridge lineman Brady Allen is also with Basha. Chaney and Allen are seniors.
— The game against Basha is the lone game in Tucson for Salpointe over the last five weeks. Games of note during a three-game road stretch are against rival Scottsdale Saguaro (freedom game) and Gilbert Perry (region).
NEXT: A look at the 5A Sonoran schedules.
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