Raymundo Frasquillo File Photo/Gila Herald: The Morenci Wildcats will host an opening-round playoff game on Friday night. Thatcher and Pima will also host opening-round games, while Safford will go on the road.
By Jon Johnson
It’s Game Day in the Gila Valley and the area will have its choice of prep football action to cheer for as three local teams will begin their football playoff runs at home, while Safford will go on the road with hopes of David versus Goliath to battle No. 1-ranked Mohave.
3A Conference
No. 6 Morenci v. No. 11 Benjamin Franklin
Morenci will host Benjamin Franklin at “The Hill” on Friday, Nov. 3, starting at 7 p.m. to open the 3A State Football Playoffs.
Morenci (3-1 region, 6-2 conference, 7-3 overall) took the 3A South Region – arguably the toughest region in 3A with all five teams making the playoffs – in its first year from being moved up from the 2A Conference after being the state runner up two years in a row in that conference.
Morenci’s losses this year came right in a row to 2A No. 1-ranked Pima, 16-19 in OT, on Sept. 7, Blue Ridge, 21-24 on Sept. 15, and Safford, 14-26, on Sept. 29. Signature wins were a 31-28 victory on the road over Sabino on Oct. 20, and 21-14 over Thatcher on the road to win the 3A South Region.
Morenci utilizes a knock-down defense and hard-nosed running attack to dominate the time of possession. The Wildcats are led by running back Michael Casillas, who is averaging 137.9 yards per game this year and has surpassed 5,000 career rushing yards. Casillas has also found the end zone 13 times this year.
Tristen Sanchez is a leader on both offense and defense, averaging 31.4 yards receiving per game and 5 total receiving TDs, while also leading the team with 11 sacks and 6 caused fumbles.
Keeping it all together is QB Joey Seballos, who heads the team on offense and patrols the field on defense with 7 TD passes while snagging 3 INTs while on defense as a safety/defensive back.
Benjamin Franklin (3-1 region, 7-2 conference, 7-3 overall) finished second in the 3A Metro East.
They have a healthy running game led by Ridge Allen who averages 140.1 yards per game. Allen also has 16 TDs on the season.
QB Ty Sather has 11 passing TDs on the year and he spreads the ball around with three separate receivers averaging more than 20 yards per game catching the pigskin.
The Wildcats and Chargers both played Pusch Ridge this year, with Morenci defeating the Lions 14-7 on Oct. 6, while Benjamin Franklin lost to the Lions, 7-34, on Sept. 1.
Benjamin Franklin’s only other losses this year have been to the unbeaten leader of the 4A Desert Sky Region, Arcadia, 14-31, on Sept. 8, and No. 2-ranked Valley Christian, 14-42, on Oct. 27.
If Morenci is victorious, the Wildcats will next face either No. 3 Paradise Honors on the road or host No. 14 Gilbert Christian on Thursday, Nov. 9, starting at 7 p.m.
No. 7 Thatcher v. No. 10 Florence
Thatcher will host Florence at EAC’s John Mickelson Field on Friday, Nov. 3, starting at 7 p.m.
Thatcher (3-1 region, 6-3 conference, 6-4 overall) looks to have starting QB Brett Jones back and ready for action.
Joining Jones in leading the Eagles include a cadre of running backs, Christian Carter, Crew Farris, Jett Howard, and Carter Peck. At the same time, the air is the domain of receivers Wyatt Nickolas and Daniel Jones.
On defense, the front line is led by Brigham Rasmussen, Conner Woods, and Zac Salazar.
Florence (4-0 region, 7-2 conference, 8-2 overall) is led on the ground by Josh Jackson, who averages 107.8 yards per game and 18.3 yards receiving. The ground game is spread around, with Malik Smith averaging 79.1 yards per game with 11 total TDs on the season.
QB Logan Stenson is no stranger to tucking it away and running for a first down averaging 57.4 yards on the ground per game with 9 total TDs.
On defense, Zayden Cudiff leads the team with 12.6 tackles per game.
In games against like opponents, Thatcher lost to Valley Christian, 14-15 on Sept. 1, and defeated Safford, 35-14, on Oct. 13, and Crismon, 40-0 on Aug. 25, while Florence lost to Valley Christian, 22-27, on Aug. 26 at a neutral site, and defeated Safford, 29-26, on the road on Sept. 1, and Crismon, 41-0, on Oct. 20.
If Thatcher defeats Florence, the Eagles will next either visit No. 3 Valley Christian or host No. 15 ALA-Ironwood on Thursday, Nov. 9, for the second round.
No. 1 Mohave v. No. 16 Safford
Safford will go on the road to Bullhead City to face the top-ranked team in the 3A Conference.
The Safford Bulldogs (1-3 region, 3-5 conference, 4-6 overall) have signature wins over 3A South Champs Morenci, 26-14, on Sept. 29, and fellow playoff contender Round Valley, 24-21, on Oct. 5. Three of their six losses have been to fellow 3A South teams, and they also fell to 2A No. 1-ranked Pima, 25-34, on Aug. 25.
The Bulldogs live or die off the arms and legs of QB Jojo Ruelas and running back Monster Rios. Safford’s balanced offense features Rios averaging 64.3 yards per game rushing and Chris Shatto with 66 yards receiving to lead the team.
Ruelas has thrown for 22 TDs this year, with 10 going to Cole Goodman alone.
On defense, Xavier Owens paces the team with 8 sacks and 3 caused fumbles, but Shatto leads in tackles per game, averaging 8.8.
Mohave (4-0 region, 7-1 conference, 9-1 overall) has been the consensual No. 1 team since the rankings first came out. However, last week the Thunderbirds fell to No. 4 Sabino, 29-34, who finished third in the 3A South.
No.1-ranked Mohave’s attack is all about sophomore QB Joe Yoney Jr., who is averaging 99.5 yards per game on the ground. Yoney leads the team with 16 rushing TDs on the season and has 24 passing TDs as well while completing nearly 68 percent of his passes.
Isac Urias averages 60 yards per game through the air, but Urias was reportedly ejected from last week’s game versus Sabino and by rule will have to miss the opening round game.
On the defensive side, linebacker Jonathan Williams leads the team with 8.2 tackles per game and 2 caused fumbles, while Blake More has 9 sacks on the season.
I didn’t do the research regarding if any No. 1 seeds have lost to a No. 16 seed in a 3A Conference football playoff game, but if it hasn’t happened before, tonight could be the night.
Safford has a team built on speed that could be the antidote to Mohave’s previous dominance. Both teams lost to Sabino this year (Safford fell 21-50, and Mohave lost 29-34) but had no other common opponents.
If Safford defeats Mohave, the Bulldogs will travel to either No. 8 Pusch Ridge or No. 9 Blue Ridge for the second round on Thursday, Nov. 9, and the Gila Herald will cover it if they do.
2A Conference
No. 1 Pima v. No. 16 Holbrook
Pima will host the opening round of the 2A State Football Playoffs at Edd Hubbard Field on Friday, Nov. 3, starting at 7 p.m.
No. 1 Pima (6-0 region, 8-0 conference, 10-0 overall) has won close games this year (23-20 over No. 3 Scottsdale Christian, and 19-16 OT over Morenci) and blew out its region by not allowing a single point scored, 345-0.
However, injuries late in the season first claimed starting junior QB Rhett Hughes (wrist). Then early in the game last week Pima’s all-everything utility player Jaxon John (who was stepping in at QB) had his season end with a dislocated ankle.
Given that, Pima head coach Josh Wilkins inserted freshman QB Cedric Grimes in the starting role for tonight’s playoff opener. Grimes has a copious amount of game experience this season due to playing in the previous blowouts, and Pima still has a bevy of running backs in its stable.
Jeremiah Martinez (76.3 yards rushing per game), Hayden Blair (43.8 yards rushing per game, and Tuddy Smart (33.2 yards rushing per game) look to lead the ground attack.
On defense, Brock Haws is a monster with 9.5 sacks and 5.3 tackles per game while Tuddy Smart leads with 7.5 tackles per game and 5 INTs.
No. 16 Holbrook (7-0 region, 7-1 conference, 7-3 overall) won the 2A Little Colorado Region to make the playoffs despite being ranked 22nd.
Holbrook is led by running back Matthias Montijo with 122.7 yards rushing per game, and 19 total TDs. Simeon Shaw paces the team with 63.2 yards receiving per game and 9 TD catches.
The passes come from QB Darren Justman, who has hit 17 passing TDs for the year with a 57 percent completion percentage.
If Pima defeats Holbrook, the Roughriders will then host a second-round game on Thursday, Nov. 9, starting at 7 p.m. versus either No. 8 Tonopah Valley, or No. 9 Phoenix Christian.
