FINAL SCORE
Tanque Verde 42, Tombstone 18
Tanque Verde (6-3) topped Tombstone (4-5) to claim the top spot in the 2A South 1 with a 4-0 record heading into Friday’s showdown with Willcox (9-0), the No. 1 team out of the 2A South 2 with a 3-0 record. Last season, the teams met at Tanque Verde for the 2A South championship and the Hawks dominated 42-14 behind 263 yards rushing. Tanque Verde and Willcox advanced to the 2A state semifinals last season.
BOLLNOW BALL KEEPS (RUNNING AND) ROLLING
Tanque Verde went 11-3 last year behind a running attack that featured four backs with at least 250 yards — all of them seniors and close in rushing ability, Sebastian Blakeman (702 yards), Cooper Payne (637), Schmuker Colt (423) and Anthony Torgeson (262).
The Hawks’ complex motion offense, which keeps defenses guessing who will run the ball out of the backfield, is just as effective under fourth-year coach Jeff Bollnow. The Hawks again have four backs with at least 250 yards — junior Gaines Gooch (539), junior Mason Sandoski (479), senior Beau Duke (412) and junior Noah McGill (286).
“I always feel bad because you never see us with the like 100-, 200-yard rushers,” Bollnow said. “It’s like we have a bunch of 75-yard rushers. Look at how it adds up. I think it’s really dynamic because it balances us out. You don’t know who’s gonna get you because they all can get you, and so we work really hard to find how do we get those three to five explosive kids on the field at the same time, and how do we build plays that will highlight what they bring to us.”
YOU’VE BEEN GOOCHED
ESPN NFL Sunday has that segment “You Got Moss’d” featuring spectacular catches over defenders. Mac Friday of the Arizona Daily Star and I were joking about Tanque Verde opponents getting “Gooched,” from the fleet-footed and shifty Gooch, who has played the last five games at quarterback after senior starter Nate Hallums suffered an injury.
On the very first offensive play of the game Friday for Tanque Verde, Gooch sidestepped a couple of tacklers and used a burst of speed to run 59 yards for a touchdown.
He ran for a 33-yard touchdown on the Hawks’ last offensive play of the first half after running on the perimeter, finding a seam and blowing past tacklers.
Gooch finished with 136 yards on eight carries, leading the Hawks’ vaunted rushing attack that compiled 335 yards on 37 carries.
The windy conditions, in which some gusts were stronger than 60 mph, had no effect on Tanque Verde’s running game. Tombstone attempted 14 passes and completed only three because the wind made the football move around like a frisbee.
Gooch, becoming more efficient at quarterback week to week, set the tone with the early touchdown run.
“That injury (to Hallums) hurt; we had to look ourselves in the mirror and we said we’re gonna rebuild the offense around that guy (Gooch),” Bollnow said. “Every week, we’ve added formations and plays. Now we’re really starting to be able to run our stuff like we saw today. Wind or no wind, we have enough different ways to run it out.
“(Gooch) is very dynamic. He’s quick. He’s also a 300-meter hurdler, a 110-meter hurdler, and a discus thrower and qualified in all of those events for state. That kid’s an athlete.”
MAKING SIGNIFICANT GAINES
Gaines Gooch jukes out my video and the D for a 33-yard TD run. TV leads Tombstone 35-6 after a 2-point conversion run by Mason Sandoski. 57.7 seconds left 2Q. https://t.co/ShlEe6zTgu
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) October 17, 2026
Gooch hails from the distinguished Southern Arizona family that includes his dad David and uncle Quinn, both of whom played receiver at BYU. David played at Pima Community College and Quinn graduated from Sabino before advancing to BYU. David and Quinn followed their parents to Tucson from Chicago.
Gary, Gaines’ grandfather, played basketball at BYU in 1958-59.
“I really had to learn a lot about being a quarterback,” Gaines Gooch said of his adjustment from receiver to signal caller. “It was a lot coming in, but I worked hard every day. I’ve never played quarterback before, but my dad played quarterback, so he helped me out a lot. So that was good. He played quarterback in high school, but then he moved to receiver at BYU.”
David was quite the athlete as well. As a freshman at Pima, he recorded 289 yards receiving against Mesa Community College, scoring three touchdowns.
Because Gaines started the year as a receiver, he wears the uncommon number of 89 at quarterback, similar to Bear Bachmeier at BYU wearing the unique number of 47.
“I also wasn’t there when we picked the numbers that day, so yeah,” Gaines said with a laugh.
Make no mistake, Gaines can pass the ball. He completed 3 of 5 attempts, including a 16-yard touchdown pass to Rowan Carter in which he caught Carter in stride.
Bollnow commented that this was not Tanque Verde’s “first rodeo” when it came to limited passing. The Hawks did not attempt a pass in its 45-18 win over visiting Goodyear Trivium Prep on Sept. 18 and rushed for 383 yards on 33 carries.
TOMBSTONE CONTINUES TO MAKE STRIDES UNDER NEW COACH
Tombstone trailed 35-6 at halftime, and avoided a running clock until Duke’s 25-yard touchdown run with 1:45 left in the third quarter that increased the lead to 42-6.
The Yellow Jackets closed the scoring in the fourth quarter on touchdown runs of 54 and 11 yards by fleeted-footed and strong rusher Xavier Lopez, who also had a 79-yard kickoff return in the game.
Tombstone has won four games this season under new coach Anthony Ciccariello, a former assistant at the well-established program at 1A St. David. The Yellow Jackets went 2-8 last year, including having to forfeit an early-season game against Pima with the possibility of canceling the rest of the season because of a lack of players. The season went on but Tombstone lost by lopsided scores of 62-0 against Eloy Santa Cruz Valley, 49-0 against Willcox, 46-0 against Bisbee and 64-0 against Tanque Verde.
Ciccariello remained with junior Kevin Suarez on the field after Suarez suffered a neck/head injury less than 4 minutes into the game. Suarez was immobilized and taken by cart to an ambulance, which transported him to a hospital. Suarez was seen moving his arms and his feet.
NEXT WEEK
Tanque Verde, winners of five straight games, will travel to Willcox for the 2A South championship on Friday at 7 p.m. The Hawks have won 11 consecutive region games dating to the 2024 season.
Tombstone, the No. 2 team in the 2A South 1, is slated to play the crossover game at Eloy Santa Cruz Valley, the No. 2 team in the 2A South 2, on Friday at 7 p.m. The Yellow Jackets lost 33-0 at Santa Cruz Valley earlier this season. The programs may elect not to play each other and schedule a non-region opponent. The AIA did not have the game scheduled as of Saturday morning.
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