SCOTTSDALE — Saguaro’s defense didn’t rest until long after the verdict was a foregone conclusion.
On a Friday night when its offense sputtered after the opening quarter, the defense stood tall and was at the forefront of unbeaten Saguaro’s 24-3 win over Salpointe Catholic in the Class 4A state semifinals. The game was held at Desert Mountain High School, a neutral site.
“They jumped on us early,” Salpointe coach Dennis Bene, who was denied his 150th victory. “They are super-talented and very well coached. Our kids gave a tremendous effort and had a really great season. Our defense really played well all season. We lost to a team with size and speed and talent at every position.”
The win vaulted No. 1 Saguaro into the state final for the fourth straight season. Saguaro will face Catalina Foothills at 10 a.m. Nov. 26 at University of Phoenix Stadium.
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The win was Saguaro’s 24th straight win and 15th straight in the playoffs. And it came despite Saguaro struggling offensively after scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions in the first meeting between two storied programs.
“We’re a defensive football team that hangs its hat on playing physically,” Saguaro coach Jason Mohns said.
“We’ve played defense well all year long. We’ve had the pleasure to score a lot of points but we don’t need to score a lot of points to win.”
The numbers bear him out. While Saguaro (13-0) became the second team in 4A to surpass 600 points for the season, the winners of eight of the last 10 state championships have yielded the least amount of points (125) despite playing more games than all but three other teams.
Anticipating and receiving a much better game against Salpointe Catholic (10-3), which entered with six straight wins, Saguaro’s defense was stronger from the get-go than in two previous playoff wins.
“Against better competition, we step up to the plate,” defensive end Austin Shirley explained. “We knew this was for (a shot at) the championship game. We came in with a good game plan. We knew they were physical upfront. We just had to be more physical.”
Saguaro scored on its first play from scrimmage on Stone Matthews’ 30-yard run. It scored on its sixth and final play of the opening quarter on Max Massingale’s 26-yard run. And then the defense dominated and put Salpointe, which relies on the running game, in an untenable position.
On its third possession, Salpointe controlled the ball and the clock for almost nine minutes. All it could muster was a season-long 44-yard field goal by Cameron Scharf. For the game, Salpointe got just 99 yards of total offense — 13 in the second half. Prolific sophomore Mario Padilla, who entered the game with 1,387 yards rushing, was held to 38.
“Once we got the two-touchdown lead, they had to change their game plan,” Mohns said. “They’re not a come-from-behind-type team so that kept them from grinding it out. You need to dominate the line of scrimmage because they run the ball so well.”
Salpointe was the first team this season to hold Saguaro below 34 points. It was the eighth time Saguaro had held an opponent to a touchdown or less.
