Oct. 16: Catalina Foothills 3, Sabino 0
Around 7:30 on Friday night, Sabino football coach Jay Campos could be seen walking near the stadium, holding a purple umbrella in his left hand and carrying his 4-year-old daughter, Lilly, with his other arm.
No headset, no play cards and no football – at least for a little while longer.
Sabino’s much-anticipated Division III showdown against Catalina Foothills – originally scheduled for 7 p.m. – started 90 minutes late on Friday night. A series of lightning delays kept both teams in their locker rooms until around 8:15.
It was worth the wait.
The visiting Falcons battled through three sloppy, scoreless quarters before going ahead on a 32-yard field goal by senior Hunter Myrdal early in the fourth. Foothills then made three defensive stops – including one in the red zone – to knock off the unbeaten Sabercats 3-0.
“I saw it go toward the uprights but I didn’t see it go through because, at that point, I had already turned around and was running down the sideline because I knew it was going in,” Myrdal said. “I didn’t see it go through but I was just happy; that was a great feeling.”
Friday’s win for Foothills marked the second time coach Jeff Scurran has won as an opposing coach on the same field he called home for 12 seasons, building Sabino into the football power it remains. That’s part of the reason why this victory was so special to Scurran, who also coached his 2009 Santa Rita squad to a victory at Sabino.
“They’ve got a lot of weapons and they’re a good football team with a lot of pride, I know that personally,” Scurran said. “So it’s a huge win for our program in general and really one of the more satisfying wins I’ve ever had.”
Thirteenth-ranked Foothills (7-2) certainly shook up the local Division III postseason picture by upsetting the No. 3 Sabercats. Both teams have just one game remaining, with the Falcons hosting Desert View next week and Sabino playing at Marana on Oct. 30, the last night of the regular season.
“This is massive,” said Foothills quarterback Rhett Rodriguez, covered in mud. “We lose this game, we might not make the playoffs. This is the biggest win I’ve ever been a part of and it gives us a chance to win the league championship.”
Foothills forced a turnover on downs after a goal-line stand to help set up the go-ahead field goal two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Throwing from his own end zone, Rodriguez connected with junior Bryan Beckon for a big gain on the final play of the third quarter. The completion – plus a 15-yard penalty – gave Foothills the ball near midfield. Then another 19-yard catch by Beckon moments later set up Myrdal’s kick, kicking toward the west end of the field.
After that, the Falcons clamped down defensively and held on tight.
The Sabercats (7-1) drove to set up a potentially game-tying field goal of their own but sophomore Bennett Nottingham, kicking into the wind, missed from 32 yards out..
Foothills, which had only beat Sabino three times before Friday night, started to celebrate but knew the game was far from over with more than six minutes to play.
The Falcons failed to get a first down on their next possession and punted the ball right back to junior quarterback Drew Dixon and the Sabercats.
Just when it looked like Foothills had come up with a stop, Dixon rolled to his right and connected with senior Daniel Rodriguez for a 30-yard gain on fourth-and-long. That gave Sabino the ball inside the 10-yard line with roughly four minutes to play.
But four plays later, facing another fourth down at the 4, Dixon lost his grip on the ball and fumbled. He recovered it but the play resulted in a turnover on downs, giving the ball back to the Falcons.
Originally, Sabino had sent out Nottingham to attempt another game-tying field goal but, after Foothills called a time out, coach Jay Campos opted to go for the win.
“Our kicker had taken a shot in the ribs in the first quarter,” Campos said. “You saw that first field goal he tried, he just didn’t look good so I wanted to go out there and try to win the game.”
Sabino had one last possession with less than a minute to play after Foothills was unable to run out the clock. But the Falcons secured the win when senior Nick Lioy intercepted Dixon in the end zone on the second play of the drive.
“You don’t stop Drew,” Scurran said. “You contain him, and that was our plan.”
Nether team was able to do much in the opening period, as the rain and wind stopped both offenses.
It looked like Foothills was about to take a lead early in the second quarter but that plan went sour when Rodriguez was intercepted in the end zone on a fourth-down attempt.
Then the Sabercats drove all the way down to the Foothills 10, draining most of the second quarter, before Dixon was intercepted near the goal line with 35.2 seconds left in the half.
“We had several opportunities to give ourselves a chance to win and we just didn’t cash in on those opportunities,” Campos said. “It was a good lesson for us as a young team. It was the first time we faced this kind adverse situation and we didn’t respond as well as we wanted to.”
Daniel Gaona
