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Blue heaven:
Sunnyside's Jose Herrera sacks Sabino's Justin Randall late in the Blue
Devils' victory Friday night at Sunnyside High School. |
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James S. Wood /
Arizona Daily Star
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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME OF THE WEEK
'Didn't let them rest' said Richard Sanchez
Sunnyside plays tough 2nd half to defeat Sabino
By Chris Davis
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
It did not matter to Sunnyside coach Richard Sanchez
how many points his team scored in the first half of Friday's game
against Sabino.
Sure, the Blue Devils' 37-7 lead heading into the
locker room was impressive, as was Mike Smith's 106 yards rushing in the
first half.
But after a pair of losses in which the Blue Devils gave up second-half leads, Sanchez knew better.
Maybe that is why he did not let up - in the locker
room or in the final two quarters of Sunnyside's 51-20 win over the
Sabercats.
"I just talked the whole time and didn't let them
rest," Sanchez said of his approach at halftime. "It was long overdue;
they should've been doing this the first week."
The players took Sanchez's words of wisdom to heart
and slammed the door with a 12-play scoring drive to open the third
quarter.
Smith rushed seven times for 69 yards in the drive and
made the score 43-7 with 6:12 remaining in the third quarter with a
2-yard plunge.
The senior finished with a career-high 238 rushing
yards and four touchdowns, plus a long kick return for a score in the
first quarter.
"It was a nice game," Smith said. "We executed and got it done tonight."
Defensively, the Blue Devils got things started in the
first quarter with a safety on the first play from scrimmage and later
intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown.
In fact, Sunnyside had a 16-0 lead before its offense even trotted out onto the field.
Smith added his first score on an 80-yard kickoff return following the safety.
He weaved and juked his way through the Sabino coverage to make it 9-0.
Marques Laverty made it 16-0 on Sabino's ensuing drive
when he intercepted a Justin Randall pass and took it 30 yards for the
score.
As the lead grew, the swagger associated with so many
Sunnyside teams of the past seemed to grow, and at the end of the first
quarter Sunnyside had a 23-0 lead.
"Maybe it's the start of something good for these kids and the program," Sanchez said.
Sabino was led by Brooks Reed's 126 rushing yards and one score.
Randall added 116 yards through the air.
Sanchez still says his team has work to do when it comes to finishing teams in the second half.
With Mesa Mountain View visiting next week, he and
Smith know how important a solid final 24 minutes will be Friday.
"We got tired of losing," Smith said. "But we've got a big game next week, and we've got to pick it up."
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