Photos: Santa Rita High School's top 10 football players
The Star's series counting down top 10 football players at Southern Arizona's major high schools continues with Santa Rita.
10. Ron Gould, ATH, 1983
At Santa Rita, the 145-pound Gould did a little bit of everything for the Eagles. He spent time at running back, defensive back, punter, receiver and the special teams unit, but his petite stature and an Achilles’ tendon injury made Gould a non-entity, for even the smallest universities. Gould instead spent two years at Scottsdale Community College, then spent a season at Wichita State before it eliminated its football program. Gould kept on chasing his dream, though, and eventually made his way to Oregon. The much bigger (5-foot-9, 176-pound) Gould started at cornerback for the Ducks in 1987. His time in Eugene, Ore., also spearheaded his coaching career, where Gould eventually made his way to Cal after several stops. He spent 11 seasons in Berkley, first coaching running backs before becoming the associate head coach in 2008. Gould was hired to his first ever head coaching job in 2012, taking over at UC Davis.
9. Jaquari Kountz, OT/DL, 2010
While the skill position players typically get more love, Kountz was the heart of the Eagles’ line during its three-year stretch of dominance in the late 2000s. Kountz was a first team All-Sothern Arizona selection as both a senior in 2009 and junior in 2008. Santa Rita won its first ever playoff game in 2007 and then the Eagles made back-to-back state title games the next two seasons. The 6-foot, 290-pound Kountz was also an honorable mention All-Southern Arizona nominee as a sophomore, meaning he played a big part in the Eagles’ three-year (34-7) stretch under coach Jeff Scurran. Photo by Dean Knuth/Arizona Daily Star
8. Jacob Morell, RB/DB, 2005
Morell (seen right) had to wait for his senior year in 2004 before getting a shot at running back. Once he finally got his chance, though, the 5-foot 10-inch 175-pounder made the most of it. Morell set the school-record with 2,085 yards and 19 touchdowns on 333 carries to become an All-Division and All-Southern Arizona first team selection. Morell also set the city’s single-game rushing record with 399 yards and six touchdowns on 46 touches in a 59-33 win against Nogales, according to the Tucson Citizen. The only thing that didn’t come for Morell was team success as the Eagles finished 3-7 on the year.
7. Ian Garlets, QB/DB, 2010
Similar to other Santa Rita greats Sean Cook and Aaron Santini, Garlets contributed as both a quarterback and a defensive back for Santa Rita. Garlets was a first-team All-Southern Arizona defender as a senior and junior and a second team defensive back as a sophomore in 2007. Garlets had never played quarterback when the Eagles asked him to take over in 2008, but it didn’t take him long to figure out the position. The junior threw for 2,037 yards and completed 58.2 percent of his passes, scoring a total of 37 touchdowns for Santa Rita. He followed that with another strong season in 2009 (1,564 yards and 19 passing touchdowns), though the Eagles were shut out 14-0 by Glendale Cactus in the 4A-II state title game. Ian isn’t the only star of his family, as his grandfather “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, is a drag racing legend. Photo by Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star
6. Shawn Hungate, OL/DL, 1987
The 6-foot-3, 256-pound Hungate was one of Arizona’s elite lineman in 1986, earning three different All-State designations, including first team All-Arizona. The powerful guard was also a unanimous selection to the All-Division team and went on to the UA. During his college recruitment, a scout made it clear in a quote to the Daily Star why Hungate was a Division-I prospect: “He’s damn tough, that’s why.” His Wildcat career was derailed by a motorcycle accident that forced him to miss his freshmen season. Hungate never lettered a season at the UA.
5. Aaron Santini, QB/DB, 1990
Santini had the luxury of throwing to the state’s best wide receiver in Eric Drage, but Santini proved as a senior he was an elite player as well, making first team All-State. When everything was said and done, Santini had the third most passing yards in Tucson history with 4,600 and was also a second team All-Southern Arizona defensive back. The 6-foot, 178-pound athlete completed over 50 percent of his passes his final two seasons and even punted for Santa Rita at times. The captain of Tucson Citizen All-City team chose baseball over football, though, because of his size and went to New Mexico before being drafted in the 20th round by the Minnesota Twins. His baseball career stalled with the Single-A Fort Wayne Wizards. Photo by David Sanders / The Arizona Daily Star.
4. J.J. Holliday, WR, 2009
During the Eagles’ turnaround under coach Jeff Scurran, the biggest name at Santa Rita was Holliday (seen left). The first-team All-State selection in 2008, and two-time All-Southern Arizona member, finished his career with 109 catches for 2,351 yards and 30 receiving touchdowns. While his final game for the Eagles was a 30-26 loss to a much-bigger Scottsdale Notre Dame side, Holliday did everything he could at Sun Devil Stadium, gaining 115 yards on six grabs and adding two scores in the game. Sun Devil Stadium would also become his future home, as Holliday played three seasons at ASU. His college career didn’t live up to his time at Santa Rita, though, as Holliday had only one catch for 14 yards before forgoing his senior season to start his professional work life. Photo by Kelly Presnell /Arizona Daily Star
3. Anthony Sanders, QB, 1992
When Sanders finished his junior season at Santa Rita in 1990, the All-State quarterback was one of the hottest commodities in town. Sanders completed 157 of his 259 passes for 2,087 yards and 14 touchdowns, creating a electric tandem with two-time All-Southern Arizona wide receiver Grant Bennett. Sanders, a 6-foot 1-inch, 184-pound blue chip prospect, had top tier schools Miami and Notre Dame, as well as many others, battling to court him. But, just six games into his senior season, Sanders broke the clavicle in his left shoulder on a scramble, ending his Santa Rita career. During the injury-shortened senior campaign, Sanders accounted for more than 70 percent of his team’s offensive output, but only the UA and ASU remained interested in signing the Tucson signal caller. Well, them and the Toronto Blue Jays. As a seventh-round pick in 1992, Sanders forwent his scholarship at the UA to pursue a career in professional baseball and eventually played in 13 MLB games. Courtesy Benjie Sanders
2. Sean Cook, QB/DB, 1987
Quarterback is usually the headline position, but Cook (seen right) made his name known more as an All-State caliber defensive back during his time at Santa Rita. Cook intercepted six passes as a senior, which was tied for the top mark in Division III, while also moonlighting as the quarterback in the Eagles’ Flexbone option offense. Cook passed for 583 yards and rushed for 480 and eight touchdowns to make his way on the Super 11 team. The 6-foot 3-inch, 200-pound athlete received a scholarship to play at the UA. In a testament to his versatility, before Cook switched to quarterback as a junior, he had 12 catches for 403 yards (33.6 yards per reception) and six touchdowns. Photo by Edward McCain / Tucson Citizen
1. Eric Drage, WR/DE, 1989
If you watched a Santa Rita game in 1988, you saw Eric Drage out on the field — every single play. The 6-foot 1-inch, 175-pound athlete never left the field, according to head coach Bob Vielledent, and for good reason. Drage was the All-Southern Arizona Player of the Year as a senior, an All-State and All-Division first team selection and he also won the Ed Doherty Award as Arizona’s top high school player. While Drage starred at wide receiver, he also was a force at defensive end and even volunteered to be the scout team quarterback. Drage went on to play at BYU, where the two-time All-WAC selection set two career receiving records for the Cougars (3,065 yards and 29 touchdowns) before they were broken in 2008 by future NFL receiver Austin Collie. Going into a pivotal matchup against Sunnyside Drage’s senior year, he asked his coach to not throw him the ball and instead run it since the Blue Devils were overloading their defense to stop him, Vielledent told reporters in 1988. The star receiver went without a catch, but Santa Rita won 13-10. Photo by Linda Seeger / Tucson Citizen
Through Friday, the Star will count down the top 10 football players from each major Southern Arizona high school program:
The Star's series counting down top 10 football players at Southern Arizona's major high schools continues with Buena.