2025 High School Softball

The Mooney Team High School Football Report: Thousands turn out for rivalry game in Sahuarita

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Walden Grove head coach Corey Noble, left, holds to Copper Cup trophy as the Red Wolves celebrate. (Roxie Castro / All Sports Tucson)

The Walden Grove Red Wolves overcame an early deficit to defeat the Sahuarita Mustangs 36-10 and retain the Copper Cup rivalry trophy Friday in a game that was postponed from Thursday due to a weather delay.

Walden Grove scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to pull away for the win on Friday. Two third-quarter touchdown runs by junior Dominic Sanchez, an 8-yarder and a 6-yarder, extended the Red Wolves’ lead. Senior defensive back Jaxsen Philistine sealed the victory with a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown with eight minutes remaining.

The atmosphere for the renewed crosstown rivalry was spirited and full of energy. 

Walden Grove head coach and athletic director Corey Noble estimated the first part of the game on Thursday alone drew a crowd of nearly 3,000 fans. Walden Grove fans filled the homefield bleachers and those rooting for Sahuarita filled out smaller visitor bleachers and extra visitor stands brought in by the Sahuarita Unified School District.

“It was electric. We’ve hosted a playoff game here. We’ve had some big games here, but that was like nothing we’ve ever had here before,” Noble said. I want to have more of that. That was crazy. That was an awesome atmosphere.”

Sahuarita’s JJ Riley blocked a 35-yard field goal attempt early in the first quarter and the Mustangs took a 7-0 lead on the following possession after a 2-yard touchdown run by Trent Hubble. Walden Grove responded with a big play in the second quarter when Sebastian Gallardo broke free for a 64-yard touchdown run, and the team converted a two-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead. The game was then suspended with just over two minutes remaining in the first half due to lightning.

When play resumed on Friday, Walden Grove junior quarterback Gauge Abalos scored on a 3-yard run to extend the Red Wolves’ lead to 15-7. Sahuarita’s Raphael Villa Arzate kicked a field goal as time expired in the half, bringing the Mustangs within five points.

Noble was impressed with how Abalos ran the offense in his first game as the Red Wolves’ starting quarterback. Abalos took over at quarterback this summer after Kaleb Layton, a first-team all-region selection as a junior last season, moved to Sierra Vista.

“Gauge did a great job,” Noble said of his new quarterback. “He really brought it together today and showed the arm, the decision-making ability and the athleticism that’s going to make him an elite weapon.”

When the Red Wolves trailed 7-0 in the second quarter, Abalos spoke to the team about keeping their emotions in check.

“I told my guys, ‘we’ve got to stay controlled. We’ve got to stay calm. We’ve got to not ride the roller coaster and stay neutral,'” Abalos said. “We started staying neutral and that’s when we started working together, having each other’s backs and we started executing.”

Town of Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy and SUSD Superintendent Manny Valenzuela were on hand to present the Copper Cup to the Red Wolves.

The game marked the first time the two varsity programs have faced each other since the Red Wolves’ 56-7 victory in 2022. After an on-field skirmish in 2015, the rivalry was put on hold for six seasons and then again when Walden Grove left the 4A Gila region and joined 4A Kino following the 2022 season.

Noble, who worked together with Sahuarita head coach Jake Allen to get the rivalry game back on the schedule, is excited for the future of the event.

“Moving forward, it can be even more of an event. More of a thing for the town to rally around, and this community to rally around,” Nobel said. “If we come out of this in five years and the only thing that’s won was a football game that we played every year, we’ve missed a heck of an opportunity to build something that this town can be super proud of.”

Walden Grove plays at Mesa-Eastmark (1-0) on Sept. 4 at 7 p.m.

Sahuarita hosts Maricopa-Desert Sunrise (0-1) on Sept. 5 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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