A.E. Araiza / Arizona Daily Star

Devil of a situation: Sunnyside quarterback Jaime Cota looks for running room as a Salpointe Catholic defender takes aim.

Blue Devils in sync in rout over Salpointe in opener

By Brian J. Pedersen
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

A wardrobe malfunction forced host Salpointe Catholic to play Friday night's season opener in its white road uniforms.

It was only fitting. Visiting Sunnyside looked right at home.

The defending Class 4A state champion Blue Devils looked as if their title game victory was last week, rather than in December, as Sunnyside cruised to a 38-14 win over Salpointe before a standing-room only crowd of almost 8,000.

"Not bad," said coach Richard Sanchez, whose team was a sloppy fourth quarter away from handing Salpointe it's first shutout in nearly three seasons. "We're going to have to do better."

It was the first time in 22 games the Lancers were beaten by a Southern Arizona opponent, but it's been even longer since a local team has beaten Salpointe so soundly.

Sunnyside led 10-0 at the half and was up 31-0 with 2 1/2 minutes gone in the fourth quarter before Salpointe managed to take advantage of some Blue Devil mistakes.

Salpointe, which averaged 36 points and a city-best 432 yards per game last season, was held to 34 yards in the first half by a Sunnyside defense that looked at peak level for most of the game. The Lancers, starting three linemen at or more than 280 pounds, had minus-15 rushing yards before halftime.

"As big and as strong as we are, we're very young," Salpointe coach Dennis Bene said. "We had some young guys that kind of got broken in tonight. We'll make some corrections and we'll be fine."

The Devils took a 3-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 23-yard field goal by Carlos Encinas, and then the offense took off behind the heady play of senior quarterback Jaime Cota. He threw for 87 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 87 yards and two scores.

Of Cota's eight carries, seven went for either a first down or a TD.

"I just knew I had to come out and make plays for our team," said Cota, who is starting for the third season. "I feel I've grown a lot in maturity over the years. I know I need to take control of this team."

Cota's efforts kept the heat off UA recruit Xavier Smith, who made more first-half contributions on defense with a sack and a batted down pass. The 6-foot, 205-pound senior took over in the second half, though, and finished with 142 rushing yards and a TD on 20 carries.

"If they played 5A, they'd make the playoffs," Bene said.

Salpointe staved off the shutout with a spirited fourth quarter, when it gained 162 of its 240 yards. Seventy-five came on a broken-coverage TD pass from Sean Brevaire to Evan LeBlanc, and Nicholas Cole added a 5-yard scoring run to get within 31-14.

The Lancers then recovered an onside kick at midfield, but failed to capitalize, and Cota sealed the game with a 1-yard run with 3:03 left.

"There was about six minutes there where we just kind of lost it mentally," Sanchez said. "We can't have that."

Brevaire, a senior who transferred from Ironwood Ridge, was 8 of 20 for 128 yards and a score, but he was sacked three times.