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Northern AZ pre-Game stories for Coconino,
Flagstaff, Winlsow, Bradshaw Mountain, Orme, Mingus, Tuba City,
Page, San Manuel, Holbrook, Williams.
ROAD TO THE DOME: CHS aims for physical contest versus Cortez
By RORY FAUST Sun Sports Staff Friday,
September 05, 2008
Coconino and Phoenix Cortez will butt heads in what figures to
be an old-fashioned, smash-mouth football game Friday night at
the Skydome.
The Panthers have lost 15 straight games dating to the 2006
season, but fourth-year coach Tadd Ragan is optimistic his team
is on the up after a 26-0 season-opening loss to Phoenix
Washington that was closer than the final score indicated. "I
think we out-hit Washington," Ragan said. "We were more
aggressive; we just had four mistakes that came back to bite us
a little bit. If we can do a better job offensively sustaining a
drive and moving it down we'll see some good things happen for
us this year."
Ragan said the team is "trying to fine-tune the offense" by
smoothing quarterback-running back exchanges in an attempt to
get to the hole quicker. "The offensive line did a great job
opening up holes we just didn't get there fast enough and that's
one of the reasons we had some issues sustaining drives," he
said.
Defensive linemen Eric Cowboy, Ethan Smith, Nate Zobott, Wes
Viana, Matt Vail and Carlos Chairez were solid in last week's
loss, coming up with a handful of goal-line stands that kept
Coconino in the game. "We were kind of platooning there a little
bit; all those guys did a great job controlling the line of
scrimmage and allowing our linebackers to make the tackles,"
Ragan said. The Panthers will need a similar effort in the
trenches Friday night against the burly Colts, who return
several key players from last season's 2-8 squad.
Cortez, which plays in the tough Class 4A Division II Black
Canyon Region, is anchored by senior tight end/linebacker Nick
Beatty (6-3, 220) and senior two-way lineman Austin Sowers (6-1,
245). First-year starter Oscar Ostos, a 5-9, 170-pound senior
quarterback, will run the offense in the Colts' first game of
the season.
"They're pretty big up front on the offensive line," Ragan said.
"They're going to see if they can win it with their big horses,
they have a couple of 250-pound kids out there. I think it'll be
a run-dominated game ... I think it will come down to who wins
that defensive line battle."
Flagstaff High, Page shoot for first victories of 2008 season
By RORY FAUST Sun Sports Staff Friday,
September 05, 2008
First-year Flagstaff High coach Jeremiah Smith hopes his team
can bounce back from last week's heartbreaking loss and regain
its intensity when it visits Phoenix Shadow Mountain today.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. Smith is hopeful that FHS, which lost its
season opener to Phoenix Moon Valley 20-19 on a last-minute
touchdown, will play like a team with a game under its belt and
take advantage of potential opening-game miscues by the
Matadors, who open their season today.
The Eagles will also have to run the ball more effectively than
they did against the Rockets last weekend, when they posted just
19 yards on 26 carries. "Offensively we have to work harder,"
Smith said. "We have to get after it more, we have to get faster
off the ball and just hit the holes as hard as we can. We didn't
fire off the ball as well as we wanted to. I think we'll do a
lot better this week with some of our zone blocking schemes."
FHS, which committed 10 penalties in its season opener, also
will have to be more disciplined against the seasoned Matadors.
Shadow Mountain, which competes in the Class 4A Division I
Desert Sky Region, returns 18 seniors from last season's 3-7
team, including all five offensive linemen.
"From what I hear, they have probably one of the best O-line's
in the state," Smith said. Smith said the return of senior
middle linebacker Mark Thompson from a shoulder injury should
help the Eagles defensively.
GRAND CANYON REGION
Tuba City (0-1) at Page
(0-1) Today, 7 p.m.
PAGE -- Page enters tonight's home opener with incentive to
learn from its mistakes from last week's 54-7 loss to Chandler
Valley Christian. The Sand Devils fumbled on three of their
first seven plays and wound up turning it over seven times.
"We've been working on intensity, and we've been working on
fixing our mistakes, because you can't turn the ball over seven
times and win," Page coach Dale DeVries said. "We've been
working on putting away the ball, the mental mistakes and lots
and lots of execution."
Tuba City, a 3A North Region team, fell 42-14 at home last
Friday to Montezuma-Cortez of Cortez, Colo. On film, the
Warriors resemble the team that Page beat 23-14 last year in
Tuba City.
"Same offense, and their special teams look improved," DeVries
said. "They run a little counter. They've got power, they run
double-wing, some slot, a little bit of everything...Tuba always
comes to try and knock us out, so we've got to have it strapped
on and ready to go, because they're one of the teams that always
hits the crap out of us."
Page will be without senior running back Aaron Keisling, injured
in the Skydome last Friday. His younger brother Ryan passed for
93 yards in his varsity debut last week, but threw three
interceptions.
Page has not lost at home to Tuba City since 1991, and is 10- 5
against the Warriors in the Sand Devils' 19-plus years as a
member of the 4A conference. The annual non-region rivalry was
renewed last year after a four-year break.
-- Todd Glasenapp/Sun Correspondent
Queen Creek (0-0) at
Cottonwod Mingus (1-0) Today, 7 p.m.
The two-time defending Grand Canyon Region champion Marauders
will get the chance to prove they belong among the state's top
4A, D-II teams when it hosts Queen Creek.
Mingus, the 2007 4A, D-II state runner up, opened the season
with a 21-7 win over Glendale Apollo, but the offensive numbers
weren't typical of the past several seasons as it only managed
128 yards on the ground according to
maxpreps.com.
Senior quarterback Tony Vocca led the way with 80 yards on 15
carries with three touchdowns.
Mingus' defense, which longtime coach Bob Young said would be
better than last year's, stood tall after allowing a
first-quarter Apollo touchdown. The Marauders went on to pitch a
shutout over the next three quarters. Key in that stat was the
fact they forced five fumbles.
Last season, Mingus trailed host Queen Creek 17-0 after the
first quarter, but outscored the Bulldogs 41-6 the rest of the
way to win going away. Queen Creek's run defense was effective
against Vocca in that game, holding him to 7 yards on five
carries. Vocca still found a way to be productive, though,
throwing for 111 yards on 10 of 20 passing.
Phoenix Greenway (0-0) at
Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain (0-1) Today, 7 p.m.
Bradshaw Mountain, which joined the GCR last season, will hope
to use the home-field advantage to the fullest extent when the
Demons come to town. The Bears kicked off the season with a
21-18 loss to Buckeye in the Flagstaff Kick-Off Classic. In that
game, the Bears gave up 265 yards on the ground and failed to
convert any their three touchdowns. Greenway rallied from a
six-point first-half deficit to beat Bradshaw Mountain last
season, 20-19.
CLASS 3A
San Manuel (0-1) at
Holbrook (0-1) Today, 7 p.m.
Holbrook's season opener versus Chino Valley didn't end quite
the way first-year coach Darrin Thomas would have hoped.
Thomas' Roadrunners were in the game early, trailing by a
point after the first quarter. The Cougars, who nearly doubled
Holbrook's rushing total at 279-145, scored 21 unanswered points
over the next two quarters to seal the win.
CLASS 1A
Mayer Orme (1-0) at
Williams (1-0) Today, 7 p.m.
Williams will look to stay undefeated when it hosts the Warriors
in the 1A North Region opener for both teams. The problem is,
Orme will try to do the very same thing.
Both teams come into the game off of big offensive performances
-- Williams scored 59 in a win over Phoenix Valley Lutheran,
while Orme scored 57 in a win over Salome -- but it may come
down to defense. Williams gave up 480 yards of total offense,
including 295 yards through the air, and seven touchdowns.
Orme held Salome to six points. Still, the Warriors will have to
find an answer for the Vikings running back tandem of senior
Trevor Parenteau and junior Tyler Krombeen. Parenteau finished
with 190 yards on 20 carries with two TDs, while Krombeen had
135 yards on six carries and a score.
In games featuring 3A North Region teams, Ganado (1-0) will host
2A North Region Teec Nos Pos Red Mesa (0-1); Chinle (1-0) will
play at defending 3A state champ and traditional East Region
power Show Low (0-1); Kayenta Monument Valley (1-0) will host 2A
Keams Canyon Hopi (0-0) and Fort Defiance Window Rock (0-1)
hosts 2A Many Farms (0-1).
Also, Sedona Red Rock (0-1), a 3A West Region team, hosts
Snowflake (1-0), and the 2A Central Region's Camp Verde (1-0)
hosts Tuba City Greyhills (0-1).
All games start at 7 p.m.
Winslow hits road
Friday, September 05, 2008
Winslow's hopes for a season-opening win fell by the wayside
after last week's 33-8 homefield loss to Snowflake. The
Bulldogs, who lost their first three games of 2007 before
rattling off seven straight wins to take the 3A North Region
title, will get a chance to redeem themselves when the travel to
Payson today. A win versus the Longhorns (1-0) won't be easy as
they come into the game riding high after a 26-0 season-opening
win over Fountain Hills.
Payson rumbled for 283 rushing yards according to
maxpreps.com
Winslow was outrushed by Snowflake, 287-167.
-- Sun Sports Staff
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