2025 High School Football

Pueblo shuts out Empire to win 4A Gila title

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Pueblo head coach Sly Lewis, right, addresses the Warriors immediately following the game Friday. (Kevin Murphy / All Sports Tucson)

No. 27 Pueblo capped a seven-game winning streak and undefeated record in region play when it shut out No. 38 Empire 48-0 to earn the 4A Gila region title in its regular-season finale Friday at Saturnino “Curly” Santa Cruz Stadium.

“It feels great,” Pueblo head coach Sly Lewis said. “Had a great week of practice. Guys were fired up to be crowned champion, and I just couldn’t be more proud of staff, players and my managers. Everybody had a role, and I’m just excited for them to be able to experience this.”

Pueblo (7-3, 6-0 4A Gila) now awaits the announcement of the 4A state playoffs bracket Saturday morning to learn if it will be one of the 24 teams selected for the postseason.

“All we can do is control what we do. At the end of the day, we had to go play a tough Empire team, make sure that we win, and honestly, it’s up to the committee,” Lewis said. “I guess the MaxPreps power points, all that stuff, go into play. We wanted to score as many points as possible tonight.”

After a 2-8 debut season under coach Lewis in 2024, Pueblo rebounded this season by snapping a 10-game losing streak on Sept. 19 and winning seven straight, culminating in a perfect run through the 4A Gila region.

“Honestly, you’ve got to learn how to lose, to win. And we lost in every way, shape and form. But every single time that we came to work on a Monday, these guys showed up willing to learn, willing to make sure that they didn’t make the mistakes the week before,” Lewis said. “So, once we dialed that in and kind of understood who we had as a team, it was just about time for things to click, and they did when they did, and these guys have been playing lights out.”

Following the game, Lewis looked to the sky, pointed upward and spoke under his breath. The gesture was a tribute to his brother James Williford, who was shot and killed a few blocks from Pueblo High School.

“I know he’s smiling down and with me every single moment,” Lewis said.

Pueblo’s defense set the tone against Empire (3-7, 3-2 4A Gila) early, and its offense established an early ground game, starting the scoring near the five-minute mark of the first quarter when Andrew Armenta broke free for a 51-yard touchdown run, though the ensuing extra point failed, leaving the score at 6-0.

The lead grew to 13-0 when Andray Rodriguez evaded several defenders on a 9-yard touchdown run. With two seconds remaining in the first half, Jeremiah Sandoval’s 27-yard touchdown run and the successful two-point conversion that followed gave Pueblo a 21-0 halftime lead.

The Warriors opened up the passing game on their first possession of the second half when quarterback Roman Otero threw a 42-yard pass to Fernando Garcia that got the offense deep into Empire territory, setting up a 15-yard touchdown pass to Rodriguez.

Otero and Garcia connected for two touchdowns in the third quarter — from 22 yards and 41 yards — to extend Pueblo’s lead to 41-0.

Darrius Taylor completed the rout with a 49-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Otero completed 12 of 21 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns.

Garcia caught five passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns.

Sandoval, a senior who ran for 127 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, is enthusiastic about how the region title will impact the direction of the program and the underclassmen.

“It’s exciting for the school,” Sandoval said. “I’m excited for the program, for the next step that the younger generation is going to take that we’ve instilled in them.”

Sandoval says the key to the turnaround since last season was the players buying into what the coaching staff was selling.

“Eventually, we all just bought in,” Sandoval said. “We had a really good conversation and bought in with the program, and started listening to our coaches.”

While Lewis didn’t leave anything on the table Friday in the hopes of a receiving a playoff bid, he said several reserves got playing time late in the game because he wanted to ensure every player got to experience the success.

“So if it is the end, then everybody was a part of it and had a good run,” he said. “But we definitely would love to be in that mix with the top 24 teams at all of state and see what we can do in the state playoffs.”

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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