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after a few years of resurgence almost a
decade ago have fallen back. Felix
Jamero begins his second season as head
coach.
Tanque Verde: The Hawks picked up
a few more wins last year in Jeremiah
Johnson's second year as head coach.
The goal is more progress. Tanque Verde
was 1-9 in 2014 and 3-7 in 2015. Moving
up a conference, the only team of the
seven in the region, and returning only 10
lettermen makes improvement a tough go.
The Hawks do return their most prolific offensive
player in Sr. Joey Gould. Gould will
shift from running back to quarterback. He
rushed for 940 yards and six TDs last
year. Johnson is looking for a better running
game. That hinges on how a very inexperienced
line performs.
3A EAST REGION
Blue Ridge: The Yellow Jackets got
back on the winning track last season, finishing
7-4 with an opening-round playoff
loss to River Valley. Bob London, a longtime
assistant in the program, took over
last year. Blue Ridge did not fare well
against the upper-echelon teams in the
section, losing to Show Low, Snowflake
and Payson. Three narrow wins early a
year ago made the winning record possible.
Holbrook: The Roadrunners benefitted
by competing a conference down in
2015. They got much needed experience
from a relatively young team that's moving
back up a notch to a tough region. Coach
Brady Pond begins his second season
after a 5-5 mark last year. Seven starters
return on both sides of the ball, but Pond
is concerned about the physicality his
team brings to East Region wars. Top returning
players are quarterback Sr. Cade
Maestas, running back Sr. Danny Gonzales,
leading tackler and linebacker Sr.
Oscar Hernandez, Sr. Shane McGraw, a
running back/linebacker and lineman Sr.
Zach McLaws.
Payson: Coach Jake Swartwood begins
his fifth season at the helm and likes
his team's chances of battling the big boys
in the region. They''ll need to raise their
level of play, however, against Show Low
and Snowflake. Pond's optimism stems
from an experienced offensive line and key
defenders returning. Four of five offensive
lineman are back and they're also defensive
starters -- Sr. Korben White, Sr. Trey
Glasscock, Sr. Sammy Bland, and Sr.
Trent Cline. Glasscock led the team in
tackles as an end with 62. White, a linebacker,
had 58 tackles. Skill position spots
are up for grabs, namely quarterback and
QB Ryan Economou, River Valley (photo by Mark Jones of maxpreps.com)
running back. Payson was 6-5 last year
and lost in the first round of the playoffs to
eventual state champ Pusch Ridge.
Show Low: The Cougars are a program
able to compete for a state title every
year. This is the 10th-year for coach
Randy Ricedorff at Show Low. A number of
experienced and outstanding players are
back. Sr. Jaisen Brown is a two-time allstate
linebacker and the leading tackler
(126 tackles). Sr. Rhett Ricedorff continues
at quarterback. This is his third season
starting. He passed for 2,979 yards and 29
TDs last year. Sr. Jamie Webb and Sr.
Dallin Tenney are three-year starters at T-
DE and C-NG, respectively. A couple twoyear
starters --Sr. Chris Imoto, running
back-linebacker and Sr. Dyland
Gabbard, a OG/LB are in the fold as well.
Imoto is the top returning rusher with 373
yards. New receivers is the early question
mark.
Snowflake: Until proven otherwise, the
region title goes through Snowflake and
Show Low of late. Snowflake is wellequipped
to contend again with a like pedigree
to Show Low -- 21 returning
lettermen and six starters back on both
sides of the ball. The Lobos were 11-2
for Kay Solomon in his first year as head
coach. The offense lost a talented quarterback
to graduation. As such the running
game figures to stand out. Sr. Zach
Solomon rushed for 1,008 yards and 11
TDs and found time to catch 25 passes for
277 yards and 4 TDs. On defense
Solomon added 72 tackles. Sr. JT Tate
caught 33 passes for 707 yards and 9
TDs. On defense he was in on 72 tackles.
Two-way linemen Sr. JT Fox (89 tackles)
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