Hayden’s Tyler Garner (#4) races ahead of Ray’s Chase Chester (#25) in Hayden’s win over the Bearcats. Photo by James Carnes
By Nathaniel A. Lopez
Copper Area News
After a couple years off, the Ray-Hayden rivalry football game was once again on the schedule.
It was a tough game for the hosts, the Bearcats.
After the traditional ceremonial police escort to the football field, the Lobos came out ready to play. Showing their dominance, the Lobos claimed a 71-0 victory.
“It didn’t go our way, but it was nice to have the Ray/Hayden football game back,” said Ray head coach Zach Moore. “That game means a lot to these communities.”
Moore said, “Coach Estrada has done a great job building a successful program. Best of luck to them as they begin playoffs.”
“Unfortunately,” he added, “we came up short of our playoff berth goal. I couldn’t have asked for more from the kids who stuck it out and battled through a ton of adversity this year. We had extremely high hopes during preseason and things just didn’t roll our way. This year’s senior group meant a lot to me I wish I could’ve done better for them. I know they will all be successful in life in whatever path they choose. The work for next year begins today. I learned a lot this year and have full faith we can make a playoff run next season. Thank you to all the athletes for your effort and commitment. Thank you to the parents for your support. A huge thank you to the coaching staff having assistant coaches who you can trust and count on makes my job much easier and I couldn’t ask for better coaches. Thank you to the community of Kearny for your support of the Ray High Bearcats. Go Bearcats!”
The ‘Cats closed out their 2024 season with a 4-5 record, and a #3 rank in the 1A South Region. Ray finished #13 in the state rankings, just two short of the playoffs.
Hayden closes out their regular season with a 9-0 record, and a #1 rank for 1A East Region, #1 rank for all of the 1A teams and #43 in the nation according to Maxpreps. As the #1 seed, the Lobos will automatically advance to the quarterfinals of the 1A State Football Championship playoffs, which will take place on Nov. 1, at Hayden with a 7 p.m. start time. The boys will take on the winner of the Williams V. Desert Christian round 1 game. Ticket information will be available in the Oct. 30 issue of the newspaper.
Superior Panthers
The Superior football team claimed the win last Friday in their away game against Valley Union. The Panthers put in the work and were able to keep the Blue Devils out of the end-zone majority of the game. The final score of the game was 46-16.
The Panthers finished their regular season with a 5-4 record, but their season isn’t over. Seeded #11, the Panthers will play in the first round of the 1A State Football Playoffs. The boys will travel to take on #6 Seed El Capitan on Friday, Oct. 25, with a 7 p.m. kickoff time. Should they win, they will face off against Mogollon in the quarterfinals.
Good luck Panthers, on your journey to state!
San Manuel Miners
Last Friday, Oct. 18, the San Manuel High School football team played its homecoming football game against Baboquivari. It was a good night for the red and blue, as the Miners claimed a homecoming victory.
The final score of the game was 34-12. This game closed out the season for the Miners. The boys closed out their season with a 3-6 record and ranked #4 in the 1A South Region. They were ranked #16 for 1A state rankings.
“We didn’t have the season we wanted but our last game our team came to play. BaBo has a big team and it was rough at first. We are looking forward to next season,” commented head coach Ernie Ivy.
We’ll catch you on the field next year Miners!
The rankings for the state playoffs are for the whole team. But what about the individual players? How do they stack up against other teams and their own teammates?
AZPreps 365 evaluated all 1A players and found some interesting statistics for local players. These players are listed with their teams.
Hayden
Offense
Paul Gaither is #8 for passing with 947 yards. Kino Lorona is #1 for rushing with 917 yards. Tyler Garner is #3 for rushing with 801 yards. For scoring, Kino Lorona is #1 with 140 points and is also #1 for touchdowns with 22 TDs. Tyler Garner is tied for #3 for scoring with 104 points, and also for touchdowns with 16 TDs.
Defense
Matthew Armenta is #3 for tackles with 76 tackles. Ryan Garner is #4 for sacks with 5 sacks.
Special Teams
Tied for #1 is MJ Oropeza for field-goals with 1 made. MJ Oropeza was also #1 for kick scoring with 21 points, as well as #1 for Points After Touchdown with 18 made. Jordan Rodriguez is #2 for punt returns with 24.4 yards average; he is also #2 for total returns with 417 yards, as well as #5 for kick return with 28.8 yards average.
Ray
Offense
For passing, Jason Day is #6 with 1059 yards. For receiving, Seth Wade is #6 with 446 yards. For total yards, Jason Day is #6 with 1280 yards.
Defense
Gaje Nichols is #2 for tackles with 79 tackles. For interceptions Seth Wade is tied for #4 with 5 interceptions. Tied for #5 is Chris Curiel with 4 interceptions.
Special Teams
Seth Wade was #9 for punts with 24.4 yards average and #4 for kickoff with 1291 yards.
Superior
Offense
Antonio Lopez is #7 for passing with 548 yards. For receiving, James Henriquez is #4 with 548 yards, and Ryland Duarte at #8 with 405 yards. Antonio Lopez is #7 for total yards with 1249 yards.
Defense
Adam Sandoval is #8 in sacks with 7.5 sacks.
San Manuel
Offense
Dominic Rodriguez is #6 for rushing with 751 yards.
Defense
Dominic Rodriguez is #1 for tackles with 81 tackles. Brayden Martinez is ranked #7 for tackles with 67 tackles.
Special Teams
For kickoff, Daniel Najera is #6 with 804 yards. For punts, Ivan Flores is #5 with 33 yards average. For punt return, #8 is Dominic Rodriguez with 15.7 yards. He was also ranked #9 for kick-return with 18.9 yards average. Tanner Decker was ranked #10 for kick-return with 17.9 yards average. For total returns, #7 is Dominic Rodriguez 264 yards.
San Manuel’s Ivan Flores at the goal line for the score. Photo by Emily Madrid