Not only did two scores late in the first half give Sunnyside High
momentum last night, they also put the Blue Devils in the drivers'
seat for the Class 4A Sonoran region title.
Xavier Smith scored on a 4-yard run, and
Jaime Cota threw a TD
pass to Nathan Vega to give Sunnyside a 17-0 halftime lead at
Ironwood Ridge.
The Blue Devils took over sole possession of first with a 38-7
win in the Tucson Citizen Spotlight Game of the Week. Sunnyside
(6-2, 5-0) faces Rincon/University next week before its
regular-season finale against Santa Rita, which is tied for second
place with Ironwood Ridge at 6-2 and 4-1.
"We're just getting back into our form," said
Sunnyside's Smith, who ran for 127 yards and two TDs on 19 carries.
"(Ironwood) looked pretty good on defense and on offense, but
we just came out and overpowered them."
It was Sunnyside's sixth straight win. The Devils, who started
the season 0-2, are trying to get back to the Class 4A state title
game, which they won in 2001.
"Our line stepped it up," said Cota, who passed for 120
yards and ran for 49.
Ironwood trailed only 3-0 with 59 seconds left in the half. But
after Smith's TD, Sunnyside got the ball back when Nighthawks
quarterback Sean Brevaire was intercepted by Aaron Garcia after his
pass was tipped by Zack
Samorano. Cota then found Vega for another
TD.
"We went toe to toe with them for most of the first half,
and then they popped those two in on us," Ironwood Ridge head
coach Gary Minor said. "They had an answer for most everything
we did. That's Sunnyside football. They're good."
