MOUNTAIN RIDGE 14 SUNNYSIDE 5
Sunnyside begins its season on a blue note
Devils unable to get their offense rolling
STEVE RIVERA
Tucson Citizen

The Sunnyside High School football team looked good after just two plays against Glendale Mountain Ridge.

From there, it wasn't the same Blue Devils team many have been accustomed to seeing. Host Sunnyside lost 14-5 in each team's season opener.

For Sunnyside, it was a game of missed opportunities, dropped balls and poor execution.

"We were in the red zone four or five times and came up empty,'' Sunnyside coach Richard Sanchez said about getting inside the Mountain Ridge 20-yard line. "We can't do that. We didn't play as well as we should have. They're a good team.''

The Mountain Lions avenged a 21-20 season-opening loss to Sunnyside last season.

"It feels great,'' said Mountain Ridge quarterback Kevin Yost. "We knew we could get the win, but executing is another thing. The way the defense played (down the stretch) and near the goal line (was huge). It was just a great win.''

Not to Sanchez, whose team missed a 42-yard field goal in the first half and couldn't score from the 3-yard line late in the fourth quarter.

Sanchez said he reminded his team about losing its first two games in 2003 and eventually winning the state title.

"They needed to know it was important to win (Friday's) game and get on the right foot, but it's not the end of the world,'' he said. "We've still got nine more games and anything can happen once you get into the playoffs. It's nice to go 14-0, but there aren't too many teams that do that anymore.''

Sunnyside started off on the right note, leading 2-0 when Yost took a safety after a high snap landed out of the end zone 16 seconds into the game. But Sunnyside couldn't gain any momentum. And all Mountain Ridge needed was its next possession to take the lead for good.

Travis Hutchinson stepped back and caught a pass from Yost, and then the receiver found a wide-open Cody Wollschlager on a 14-yard trick-play TD to take a 6-2 lead.

"That double pass was a good play, a good play call,'' said Yost, who went 15 for 25 for 101 yards.

Yost also scored on a 1-yard run with 1:56 left in game to seal the win.

Down 7-5 just before halftime, Sunnyside, on Mountain Ridge's 11-yard line, had a chance to take the lead with 36 seconds left. But Mountain Ridge's Calvin Martin stepped in front of a Jesus Vega pass in the end zone to kill the threat.

"That was big,'' Sanchez said. "Things happen and they played it well. From where I was standing, I thought, "wow, he's open. Wide open.' . . . Hell, we might have dropped the ball anyway.''

It was that kind of night for Sunnyside.