Sunnyside state champion

'The kids believed in themselves'

TEMPE - No one had a vision of the Sunnyside High School Blue Devils hoisting a state championship trophy after they started the season 0-2.

But the Blue Devils won their second Class 4A state title in three years Saturday at Sun Devil Stadium, beating Glendale Cactus 21-13 to cap a 12-2 season.

"The kids believed in themselves," said Sunnyside coach Richard Sanchez. "Last year, we got beat in the semis. We took one week off and were right back at it."

With the fall season completed, Sunnyside joins the Catalina Foothills boys and girls swim teams as the only Southern Arizona squads to win state titles in 2003.

Sunnyside trailed 7-0 after the first quarter - only the third time all season it had failed to score in the opening period - and was down 10-0 before junior quarterback Jaime Cota threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Mike Villalobos with 1:54 left in the first half.

The Blue Devils took a 14-10 lead with 8:33 left in the third quarter on a 32-yard run by junior Xavier Smith, who also scored on a 1-yard run late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Smith finished with 120 yards and two TDs. He completed the year with 1,871 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns.

Sunnyside's victory gave Southern Arizona its sixth 4A title since 1990. Since moving from Class 5A after the 1998 season, Sunnyside has won 60 of its 67 games.