Sollenberger Classic Teams Magazine Cover Return Home

Martin Soria, Williams (photo by Mark
Jones of maxpreps.com)
Region Notes: Baboquivari snapped
its seven-year winless streak last year. ...
Tohono O’Odham snapped a two-year winless
streak with a victory last year.
EAST REGION
Duncan: Ten seniors want to cap their
high school careers by helping their program
post a plus-.500 year, something
that’s happened at Duncan only three
times since 20004. “I think we will have a
solid team,” seven-year coach Eldon
Merrell said. “We also have some really
tough competition on our schedule. We will
have a solid defense, but our offense has
some questions at this time.” The biggest
question mark for the team during the offseason
was who will third-year quarterback
Chris Corona (1,248 total yards in
2015) throw to. Merrell’s confidence in his
defense comes from knowing he returns
five starters, including senior linebacker
Jonathon Bejarano (11 tackles per game in
2015) and junior defensive back Toby
Harris (90 career tackles).
Fort Thomas: For the first time in 30
years, Fort Thomas’ sideline will be without
coach Will Hinton, the man the Eastern
Arizona Courier dubbed Mr. Fort Thomas.
But adjusting to the new coach, Bracken
Walker, Fort Thomas’ offensive coordinator
for the past five years, shouldn’t last long.
What might take time to fine tune is getting
six new starters on offense up to speed.
Shoring up a defense that gave up an average
of 46.6 points per game last year is
also a priority for Walker. Having four returning
starters on that side of the ball will
help, including senior Manny Carrizoza
and juniors Evan Stringfellow and Iversin
Sean Hahn, Valley Union (photo by Jim
Willittes of maxpreps.com)
Nelson, the team’s leading tacklers last
year. On offense, Carrizoza averaged a
team-high 164.4 all-purpose yards and
caught 11 touchdown passes last year,
tied for team-high in that category, and
Stringfellow split his time at wide receiver,
quarterback and receiver last year. Carrizoza
and Stringfellow are the only returning
starters on offense, but, like Hinton, the
expectations still are high for Walker. “We
want to contend for a playoff berth,” he
said.
Hayden: John Estrada was met with
adversity in his return as Hayden’s head
coach last year. Estrada (53-19 at Hayden
from 2003-09) lost his “stud” running back
and team’s “rock” on and off the field, Santiago
Pina, who was in a car accident at
the start of the season. “It was life threatening,
and thank God he pulled through,”
Estrada said. “But we as a team never recovered
from that.” Pina is confined to a
wheelchair and is working on recovering
some of his motor skills and to speak. “Before
the accident and even now, Santiago
continues to be a leader and a fighter,”
Estrada said. Last year, after Santiago’s
accident, the team continued to deal with
adversity throughout the season, with injuries
depleting the roster. If the 10 seniors
on the team are up for leading this year’s
team, and the commitment from players
was present during the offseason, expect
Hayden to rebound in a big way this year.
Running backs Brandon Cruz and Ryan
Donovan and receiver Michael Guerrero
are healthy and ready to restore Hayden
and honor Pina. Almost every starter returns
from a team that went 1-6 last year.
Estrada saw a good amount of players
page 41
Travis Davis, St. David (photo by Chris
Hook of maxpreps.com)
sign up for football in the offseason for the
Lobos.
NFL Yet: Look out for freshman Tyraill
Carrethers, a possible D-I recruite Ruiz
said. NFL Yet’s QB, Izaak Ruiz, is coach
Ruiz’s son, and two more sons of Ruiz, Armando
Jr. and Eli, will be assistant
coaches on the team. “Our goal is to make
the playoffs and compete for a championship,”
Ruiz said.
Ray: First and foremost, new head
coach Frank Lechuga, a junior high coach
for the past two years, said he is searching
for players who are willing to step up and
help the program rebound from last year’s
2-6 season. Lechuga and returning assistant
coaches Fred Cruz and James Fessenden
have the experience to help the
players succeed, he added. “We are expecting
a renewed level of performance on
both sides of the ball,” Lechuga said. “This
translates to speed, agility and the willingness
to finish every play with an aggressive
attitude.” FB/LB Paul Wormwood,
WR/DE Jordan Pace, OT/NG Anthony
Acuna, WR/DB Nathan Molar, and DL/OL
Fabian Valenzuela will have a say in how
much Ray improves this season.
Superior: Defensively, Superior has
one of the state’s better units in 8-man
ball. Galindo, a linebacker, was the team’s
leading tackler last year. “We’ve made a
lot of growth,” nine-year coach Ryan
Palmer said. “When our seniors were
freshmen, they lost to everybody. But with
that experience and growing pains, we’ve
gotten better every year. We were in the
semifinals last year, and hopefully we’ll
that the next step this year.”