2026 High School Football

Si Charro! Pigskin Report: Sahuarita rolls with Allen; Desert View approaching historic consecutive unbeaten regular season

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Sahuarita celebrates its second region title in the last three years under coach Jake Allen (Javier Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

FINAL SCORE

Sahuarita 48, Pueblo 28

Pueblo defeated rival Sahuarita 14-13 at home last year en route to a 4A Gila title. Not a low-scoring affair this time, with Sahuarita, under former Pueblo coach Jake Allen, jumping to a 34-0 lead with 8:08 remaining in the second quarter before subduing a mild comeback by the Warriors in the second half and pulling away. Sahuarita is 7-2 overall and 4-0 in region play and Pueblo is 6-3 and 3-1.

GAME STORY BY SABIAN BERMUDEZ

PHOTO GALLERY BY JOSIAH LOPEZ

ALLEN INSTILLING BELIEF AT SAHUARITA

When Allen departed Pueblo after the 2023 season and headed to Sahuarita, the Mustangs were 3-29 in the previous four seasons.

He immediately led Sahuarita to the 4A Gila title in his first season with a 7-3 season, and again accomplished that feat Friday with the victory over Pueblo.

The Mustangs are 19-10 under him ahead of Friday’s regular-season finale at Cholla.

“Year One, we shot out of a cannon and there weren’t really any expectations,” Allen said. “We caught fire at the right time and we won a region championship. This year was different. Last year, we missed the playoffs. Losing the region championship last year hurt, but we were most upset that we didn’t make the postseason.

“Tonight was an opportunity for us to play a really good football team that I believe should be in the postseason. I hope they get in because they’re good enough to get in and they deserve it. Tonight was about at the end of the year we match up against another good playoff team and play our brand of football.”

Sahuarita quarterback Dane Hartnett described Allen as a “great leader.”

“He helps us all be the best we can on and off the field,” Hartnett said.

PLAYOFFS NEVER GUARANTEED DESPITE REGION TITLE

The 4A Gila champion has not advanced to the state playoffs since 2021, when Catalina Foothills stayed home despite running the table in the region and finishing 6-4.

In 2022, Walden Grove was left out despite despite an 8-2 overall record and 5-0 mark in the region. The Red Wolves fell .27 of a power rating from qualifying.

Amphitheater, Empire and Douglas finished with 5-1 records in the 4A Gila in 2023, and the Panthers earned the tiebreaker for the title with the highest power-rating ranking of 26. That fell short of the qualifying mark to make the state playoffs.

In 2024, Sahuarita stayed home despite the dramatic turnaround in Allen’s first year.

Last season, Pueblo was .10 short of qualifying for the playoffs after earning the region title under alum Sly Lewis.

Sahuarita’s Roman Tellez II runs with the ball after making one of his seven receptions against Pueblo (Josiah Lopez/AllSportsTucson.com)

Will Sahuarita end that dubious streak?

“It would be my dream to be honest; I’d love to make it to the state playoffs,” senior linebacker/running back Sergio Burgos Jr. said. “Just a dream that I’ve always had. To be able to lead this to that, that would mean everything to me.”

Entering last night’s games, Sahuarita was at the last qualifying spot of No. 24 in the power ratings for the 4A playoffs. Pueblo was No. 23.

“The region championship is great,” Allen said, “but now, we’re looking to next week, take care of business, and see what happens after that.”

Ironically, it helped and hurt Sahuarita that Cholla was upset by Rio Rico on Friday night. The Chargers’ loss secured the region title for Sahuarita because the Chargers fell to 2-2 in region play and can’t tie the Mustangs for the title with a win Friday.

Cholla was rated No. 37. The Chargers lost to a Rio Rico team rated No. 44. That will adversely affect Cholla’s rating ahead of Sahuarita’s game with them. Therefore, the Mustangs will have less of an opportunity boost their rating in the last week of the regular season.

MUSTANGS LIKE THOROUGHBREDS

Sahuarita has a the motto “Horsepower” for its athletics, and the Mustangs’ football team certainly fits the bill.

Allen’s team has some thoroughbreds for athletes, exemplified in their performance against Pueblo:

— RB Trent Hubble, 14 rushes, 103 yards

— Burgos, 19 carries, 122 yards, and three touchdowns. Also highly disruptive defensively.

— Hartnett, 13 of 17 pass attempts, 205 yards, two touchdowns, 16 rushes, 68 yards, and interception as a safety.

— WR Roman Tellez II, seven receptions for 74 yards.

— WR Gabriel Wilson, two receptions, 83 yards, and two touchdowns.

“We’ve got five senior O-linemen that are as good of an O-line that I’ve ever had,” Allen said. “You’ve got Hartnett, and a three-headed monster in the backfield with Hubble, both Burgos (Sergio and brother Axel), then you have Gabe Wilson and JJ Riley on the outside, Roman Tellez — we’ve got a lot of weapons and I’m super blessed.

“It makes play-calling a lot easier on my part when you’ve got so many talented players on the field.”

DESERT VIEW CLOSE TO HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENT

Desert View coach Robert Bonillas is a victory away from being in the same sentence with Southern Arizona’s most legendary coaches — Don Hawkins of Marana, Ollie Mayfield of Tucson High, Larry Hart of Flowing Wells, Vern Friedli of Amphi and Jeff Scurran of Sabino.

Hawkins, Mayfield, Hart, Friedli and Scurran are the only coaches to lead their program to consecutive unbeaten records in the regular season in Southern Arizona since the AIA sanctioned the sport in 1959.

Desert View’s 42-14 over visiting Cienega on Friday improved the Jaguars’ record to 9-0 overall with a game at Flowing Wells on Friday to close the regular season. The Jaguars ran the table in the regular season last year and achieved a record 11-0 start before losing in the state quarterfinals.

A consecutive unbeaten regular season would match Marana, Amphi, Tucson, Flowing Wells and Sabino:

— Marana was 8-0-1 in 1967 and 9-0 in 1968 under Hawkins before winning state titles in both of those seasons (finishing 10-0-1 in 1967 and 11-0 in 1968).

— Tucson High went 9-0 in 1960 before finishing 10-1 and the Badgers went unbeaten with a 12-0 record and state title in 1970 under Mayfield.

— Flowing Wells actually went a Southern Arizona-record three straight regular seasons without a loss under Hart, going 8-0-1 in 1970, 9-0 in 1971 and 9-0 in 1972. The Caballeros were unable to win a state title in any of those seasons.

— Friedli’s 1984 Amphi team was 10-0 in 1984 before finishing 11-1 and the Panthers were 10-0 under him in 1985 before losing to Sahuaro and Howard Breinig in the first round.

— Scurran unbelievably coached Sabino to consecutive unbeaten regular seasons two different times — 10-0 in 1989 (finished 12-1) and 10-0 in 1990 (won the state title at 14-0) and 10-0 in 1996 (before a 12-1 finish) and 10-0 in 1997 (losing in the state title game and finishing 13-1).

WALDEN GROVE ACHIEVES FIRST 4A KINO TITLE UNDER NOBLE

Walden Grove, under 10-year coach Corey Noble, has reached to top of the 4A Kino mountain — like a Mount Everest quest with Mica Mountain in the same region — after reaching the highest plateau of the 4A Gila in 2022.

The Red Wolves (7-2, 4-0 4A Kino) clinched the region title with Friday’s 41-6 win over visiting Douglas.

Noble’s team will attempt to extend its six-game winning streak at Amphi on Friday.

This marks the first time Sahuarita neighbors Walden Grove and Sahuarita have won tackle football region titles in the same year. The possibility exists that the schools will meet again in the 4A playoffs. Walden Grove topped the Mustangs 33-6 at Sahuarita in the season opener.

THIS AND THAT

— Catalina and Santa Rita earned landmark wins at home Friday under first-year coaches — Kevin Edwards at Catalina and Cam Gaddis at Santa Rita. The Trojans’ 66-0 win over San Carlos improved their record to 4-6, their most wins in a season since going 5-5 in 2017. It is also Catalina’s most lopsided win in program history, surpassing the 55-0 win over Desert View in 2002, according to AZFootballArchives.com. Santa Rita (3-7) reached three wins in a season for only the second time in the last 13 years.

— Buena’s 42-14 win at CDO means another first-year coach Chris Determan (a veteran head coach of 20 years in Southern Arizona) is in a position to lead the Colts to a region title. Buena (6-3, 4-1 5A Sonoran) will host Ironwood Ridge (6-3, 4-1) on Friday with an opportunity to earn the title. A victory clinches the title for the Colts. Ironwood Ridge and Marana (6-3, 4-1) would be atop the region standings if both teams win Friday (Marana hosts Vista Grande), and Marana would earn the tie-breaker with its head-to-head win over the Nighthawks on Oct. 2.

— Sunnyside (4-5, 3-2 5A Southern) defeated visiting Flowing Wells 8-0 on Friday night after upsetting Maricopa 21-0 on the road the week before. It’s the first time since 2022 the Blue Devils have achieved shutouts in consecutive games. The 2022 team had a three-game streak of keeping opponents scoreless and had five shutouts overall that year in a 7-3 season.

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