ALLSPORTSTUCSON.COM CONTINUES ITS 50 POSTS FOR THE 50-DAY COUNTDOWN TO THE 2025 SEASON THAT STARTS AUG. 22 FOR SOME SCHOOLS WITH A LOOK AT THE 4A KINO SCHEDULES. CATCH UP WITH ALL THE POSTS BY CLICKING HERE.
The realignment of football programs going into this school year includes Amphitheater and Douglas joining the 4A Kino with Pueblo leaving to the 4A Gila and Canyon del Oro going to the 5A Sonoran.
The mainstays are Catalina Foothills, Mica Mountain, Sahuaro and Walden Grove.
Mica Mountain is the defending 4A state champion, and the Thunderbolts figure to remain competitive after losing nearly 30 seniors and legendary head coach Pat Nugent. That’s because the instant dean of coaches in the region, Jay Campos, is entering his 15th year as a head coach, returning to the sideline after leading Sabino to a high level of success from 2003 to 2016.
4A KINO SCHEDULING NOTES:
— No weeks off. That’s what every team in the 4A Kino is facing from Aug. 28 (when Catalina Foothills hosts Ironwood Ridge) to Halloween. The schools kick off their seasons a week after the 1A through 3A programs start and must play every week until the end.
— Amphi athletic director Tyrone Cephers, a Panther great who played with Michael and Mario Bates in the late 1980s, went with familiarity for the head coaching position after legendary Jorge Mendivil retired following last season. Stanley Richardson, who was on the football staff at Denver Montbello High School when Cephers was the athletic director there more than a decade ago, is joining Cephers at Amphi. Richardson, a former assistant at Chandler High School, is looking for continuity after leading three different teams in Denver for one isolated season. He has more than 30 years of coaching experience, mostly as an assistant. Amphi’s non-region schedule is manageable, facing three rebuilding programs with coaching changes — Nogales, Rio Rico and Cholla — as well as playing brand new program Somerton. The Prince Road Rivalry game with Flowing Wells is in the second week of the season at home.
— Daniel Sainz returns to Catalina Foothills after serving as the offensive coordinator at Cienega last season, which enabled him to devote more time to his Air Force duties. Sainz will transition into the role — which he held for three years from 2021 to 2023 — playing the first two games at home against 5A school Ironwood Ridge and Phoenix North Canyon (which has not had a winning season since 2016 and went 0-10 last season). The Falcons then play three straight road games, including the first two at defending 3A state champion Pusch Ridge and 4A power Snowflake.
— Former Arizona lineman Hunter Long returns to his alma mater Douglas for a seventh year, coming off a 5-5 season in which the Bulldogs won five of their last six games. The biggest non-region game annually for Douglas is against longtime rival Bisbee. The Bulldogs host the 155th game of The Pick series in the second week of the season (Sept. 5). Douglas leads the series 84-62-8 after losing last season to the Pumas 26-20 at Bisbee. Douglas plays entirely a Southern Arizona schedule, which means five trips to the Tucson area — against Flowing Wells to start the season and Catalina Foothills to complete the regular season. Road games against former 4A Gila foe Empire, Mica Mountain and Amphi are in between.
— Campos’ Thunderbolts host Poston Butte to open the season — the fourth straight year they will play the Broncos. Mica Mountain beat Poston Butte at home last year after splitting games there in 2022 and 2023. Mica Mountain follows that playing three straight road games, beginning with a matchup with former 4A Kino rival Canyon del Oro. The Thunderbolts then play at ALA-West Foothills, which lost to Pusch Ridge in the 3A state championship game last year but is now a 4A school, and finish the road swing against Sunnyside.
— An under-the-radar interesting game will be upstart Desert View visiting Sahuaro in the second week of the season. Al Alexander’s Cougars then host a Peoria team that won its last five games last season but did not qualify for the 4A playoffs with a 6-4 record. Road non-region games are against 4A Gila schools — Empire to open the season, and against another hot team from last year, Sahuarita. The annual eastside rivalry game with Sabino is at home Sept. 26. Sahuaro ended a four-game losing streak against the Sabercats with a 15-14 win at Sabino in last year’s season opener.
— Corey Noble will coach in his ninth season at Walden Grove, experiencing only one losing season in his tenure, and that was in 2021 during the COVID-19-affected era. Noble’s team will be without promising quarterback prospect Kaleb Layton, who transferred to Buena based on a move to Sierra Vista for career reasons involving one of his parents. The Red Wolves have a challenging non-region schedule with three road games against Mesa Eastmark, Vista Grande, and Empire. They open at home, welcoming in-town rival Sahuarita in the season opener. It is only the fifth time the programs will meet, with the 2022 game won by Walden Grove 56-7, the only matchup in the last nine years. Sahuarita won the first three matchups from 2013 to 2015. Noble, a Sahuarita alum, is an advocate for resuming the series, which took a respite because the rivalry became heated among fans.
4A KINO SCHEDULES
AMPHI (0-2)
Head coach: Stanley Richardson (0-2, first year at Amphi; 6-27, fourth year overall)Panthers compete in the 4A Kino. *Region game. Games at 7 p.m.
| Date | Opponent | W/L | Amp | Opp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/29 | at Nogales | L | 6 | 29 |
| 9/5 | Flowing Wells | L | 0 | 56 |
| 9/12 | at Somerton | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/19 | Rio Rico | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/26 | Cholla | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/3 | at Catalina Foothills* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/10 | Douglas* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/17 | at Mica Mountain* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/24 | Sahuaro* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/31 | at Walden Grove* | -- | -- | -- |
CATALINA FOOTHILLS (2-0)
Head coach: Daniel Sainz (18-14, fourth year at Catalina Foothills and overall)Falcons compete in the 4A Kino. *Region game. Games at 7 p.m.
| Date | Opponent | W/L | CF | Opp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/28 | Ironwood Ridge | W | 21 | 17 |
| 9/5 | North Canyon | W | 45 | 6 |
| 9/11 | at Pusch Ridge | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/19 | at Snowflake | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/26 | at Pueblo | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/3 | Amphi* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/10 | at Sahuaro* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/17 | Walden Grove* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/24 | at Mica Mountain* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/30 | Douglas* | -- | -- | -- |
DOUGLAS (1-1)
Head coach: Hunter Long (21-30, seventh year at Douglas and overall)Bulldogs compete in the 4A Kino. *Region game. Games at 7 p.m.
| Date | Opponent | W/L | Dou | Opp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/29 | at Flowing Wells | L | 10 | 56 |
| 9/5 | Bisbee | W | 25 | 0 |
| 9/12 | Pueblo | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/19 | at Empire | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/26 | Rincon/UHS | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/3 | at Mica Mountain* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/10 | at Amphi* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/17 | Sahuaro* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/24 | Walden Grove* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/30 | at Catalina Foothills* | -- | -- | -- |
MICA MOUNTAIN (11-2)
Head coach: Jay Campos (11-2, first year at Mica Mountain; 144-37, 15th year overall)Thunderbolts compete in the 4A Kino. *Region game. +Playoff game. %ASU's Mountain America Stadium.
| Date | Opponent | W/L | MM | Opp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/28 | Poston Butte | W | 41 | 8 |
| 9/5 | at CDO | W | 37 | 7 |
| 9/12 | at ALA-West Foothills | L | 14 | 21 |
| 9/19 | at Sunnyside | L | 10 | 14 |
| 9/26 | Sahuarita | W | 31 | 0 |
| 10/3 | Douglas* | W | 40 | 0 |
| 10/10 | at Walden Grove* | W | 20 | 14 |
| 10/17 | Amphi* | W | 43 | 0 |
| 10/24 | Catalina Foothills* | W | 56 | 6 |
| 10/31 | at Sahuaro* | W | 21 | 0 |
| 11/14 | Lake Havasu+ | W | 35 | 0 |
| 11/21 | at Snowflake+ | W | 21 | 14 |
| 11/28 | at Gila Ridge+ | W | 31 | 3 |
| 12/5 | Arcadia+& |
SAHUARO (1-1)
Head coach: Al Alexander (13-19, fourth year at Sahuaro and overall)Cougars compete in the 4A Kino. *Region game. Games at 7 p.m.
| Date | Opponent | W/L | Sah | Opp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/29 | at Empire | W | 41 | 3 |
| 9/5 | Desert View | L | 7 | 45 |
| 9/12 | Peoria | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/19 | at Sahuarita | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/26 | Sabino | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/3 | at Walden Grove* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/10 | Catalina Foothills* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/17 | at Douglas* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/24 | at Amphi* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/31 | Mica Mountain* | -- | -- | -- |
WALDEN GROVE (1-1)
Head coach: Corey Noble (56-28, ninth year at Walden Grove and overall)Red Wolves compete in the 4A Kino. *Region games. Games at 7 p.m.
| Date | Opponent | W/L | WG | Opp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8/28 | Sahuarita | W | 36 | 10 |
| 9/4 | at Eastmark | L | 13 | 16 |
| 9/12 | Tucson | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/19 | at Vista Grande | -- | -- | -- |
| 9/26 | at Empire | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/3 | Sahuaro* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/10 | Mica Mountain* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/17 | at Catalina Foothills* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/24 | at Douglas* | -- | -- | -- |
| 10/31 | Amphi* | -- | -- | -- |
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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