TEMPE - Sunnyside High School's drive to its second Class 4A
state football championship in three years didn't start with
the playoffs or the regular season.
It began with long, hot
practices in the summer and ended with a 21-13 win Saturday
over Glendale Cactus at Sun Devil Stadium.
"All that hard work
we went through - the running ... the weightlifting ... and
watering the field with our sweat, it all paid off," said
senior wide receiver Mike
Quiroz, who caught eight passes for
108 yards in the win. "This is our paycheck right
here."
The hard work helped the
team when it found itself trailing 10-0 in the first half
against Cactus. For the Blue Devils, it was too much time
invested to not walk away champions.
"When we were down
at halftime, everybody said we had to bring it up. That's what
we did, we just came back," quarterback Jaime Cota said.
"These guys had a lot of heart and we didn't want to give
up."
Tradition is another
motivating force. Sunnyside was 4A state runner-up in 2000,
champion in 2001 and a semifinalist in 2002.
The Blue Devils are
94-36 in 11 years under coach Richard Sanchez, winning 60 of
their past 67 games.
That kind of success
from players of old sends messages to current players that
"Hey, I can do this, too."
"I played sophomore
year and I saw all those guys graduate and they got their
rings and they were so happy," said standout senior
defensive lineman Ruben
Leyva. "It feels great... . The
same goes for this year's juniors. I want them to go out on
top next year."
