No. 2 Tucson High School’s best postseason showing in over 50 years came to an end on Friday night at Gridley Stadium in a 30-14 loss to No. 7 Goodyear Desert Edge in the 5A quarterfinals.
Desert Edge extended a 10-6 lead at halftime behind quarterback Blake Roskopf’s two touchdown passes to Zerek Sidney. Roskopf ran for another touchdown in the second half to pull away from the Badgers.
In the end, it was size, physicality, athleticism and experience that gave the edge (no pun intended) to a Scorpions team one year removed from coming up one point shy of winning the 5A state title last season in a 42-41 loss in the championship game to Higley.
Tucson’s second-half points came from a safety on a mishandled punt late in the third quarter that was followed by a costly fumble on its next possession and a 34-yard touchdown pass from Derek Mesa to Joseph Romero with 3:32 remaining.
“This one’s on me, man. We made some mistakes early that cost us late in this ball game,” Tucson High head coach Zach Neveleff said. “We get a safety, and then we immediately fumble it right back to them. You’ve got to play mistake-free football deep in the playoffs, and unfortunately, they capitalized off the mistakes we made, and we couldn’t capitalize off the mistakes they made. I think our defense played very well tonight. They held that team for the most part. Our special teams came out. The offense did their thing. They were able to run the ball really well. It’s just, we’ve got to get bigger and we’ve got to get faster.”
Tucson High beat Cienega 14-7 in the first round of the 5A state playoffs last week. It was the program’s first playoff win in 53 years. The Badgers last playoff win before that came when Tucson beat Tempe in the 3A state championship game way back in 1971 to claim back-to-back titles under legendary Tucson coach Ollie Mayfield.
Tucson’s 9 wins this season are the program’s most since that 1971 championship season when the Badgers went 11-1.
Neveleff is now 14-8 as Tucson’s coach and overall in his second season leading the program. Tucson has won 13 of its last 16 games dating back to last season. He praised the senior leadership of Kevin Bruns, Alex Valenzuela, Romero and others for being a big reason the Badgers went on a historic run this season.
“I was telling our seniors what they did was historic,” he said. “It’s been 53 years since this school has hosted a playoff game and won a playoff game. It really goes back to our seniors.” “…It was amazing, and for them to realize the history of this school in my second year is huge. It goes back to the players, man. The players played their ass off. They’re the reason we got this far anyway, is our senior group.”
Tucson High head coach Zach Neveleff breaks down some mistakes made in a 30-14 loss to Desert Edge and credits the seniors for their contributions in a memorable season. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/aZxyGpg9kM
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) November 23, 2024
Zach Neveleff talks about how this season for Tucson High will be a stepping stone for the program and his message to the team after the game. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/KoDKtiaKHO
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) November 23, 2024
When Neveleff took over in 2023, the Badgers were coming off a 3-7 season under interim coach Malcolm Nelson, who replaced legendary Richard Sanchez when he resigned a month before the 2022 season after coaching the program for a season.
Bruns has been through it all. He says Neveleff and his staff gave him a new outlook on football and life.
“I don’t even have words to explain it. It really started from my freshman year. I started my freshman team. I came in, went through a couple of coaches, and then, boom, Zach came around. I thought I was done with football, and coach Zach came and the whole coaching staff and it really changed my whole mentality on life and football and everything,” he said. “It just changed the whole program around. I know this school has a bright future with Coach Zach as the head coach. I know that for a fact.”
Senior safety/WR Kevin Bruns talks about the turnaround for Tucson High in the past two seasons under Zach Neveleff and staff. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/BEnqcBaE6M
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) November 23, 2024
Like Bruns, Romero is also grateful he was a part of the turnaround with Neveleff and the coaching staff.
“The coaching staff is amazing. They’re always pushing you, always making you go harder. If you quit, they make you keep pushing and pushing, and I think that this is what this program needed,” he said.
Senior WR Joseph Romero reflects on what he’ll remember most about the season and how Neveleff and the coaching staff turned the program around. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/PSIjFc3BVM
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) November 23, 2024
It was a physical, defensive battle in the first half.
Noah Chanez returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown with 10:45 left in the second quarter to put Tucson (9-3) ahead 7-3. Less than a minute later, A 27-yard touchdown run by Byron Brandon gave Desert Edge (8-4) a 10-6 lead. Desert Edge’s defense held Tucson on the Scorpions’ 2-yard line as time expired in the second quarter, ending an attempt by Tucson to take a lead into halftime.
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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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