Eric Sorenson
Welcome back high school football.
We missed you.
Here are a few things which caught my attention scrolling through my twitter feed from Friday night.
Jack(pot)!…I was happy to see my friend Jason Jewell get his first win as head coach of the Brophy Broncos. It wasn’t the prettiest of games but any time you can get a win over a quality, veteran opponent like the Liberty Lions and their 40 seniors you take it.
FINAL: #Brophy 9-6 over #Liberty. #FridayNight360AZ
— Eric Sorenson (@EricSports360AZ) August 24, 2019
My two biggest takeaways were how well the undersized BCP defensive front held up against a big Liberty offensive line, as well as the play of the Brophy linebackers, specifically senior Jack Taylor who was simply everywhere-whether it be stuffing run plays, dropping in coverage or just getting from sideline to sideline and causing havoc.
“Jack played awesome,” Jewell said after the game. “So did the whole linebacker crew with Bryce Michael, Michael Diaz and Jake Ruther. They all flew to the ball.”
Brophy’s schedule is quite favorable and I expect the Broncos to be 6-0 heading into their section showdown on October 4th at Hamilton.
Miller Time…Friday certainly didn’t go so well for the Chaparral Firebirds who were manhandled at home by the above mentioned Hamilton Huskies.
FINAL:
Hamilton 44
Chaparral 21#FridayNight360AZ— Jordan Hamm (@JordyHamm) August 24, 2019
Chap star wide receiver and Cal commit Tommy Christakos didn’t play but I was happy to see Jack Miller hit this milestone.
On the drive, Jack Miller went over the 8,000-yard mark for his varsity career.
— Gridiron Arizona (@gridironarizona) August 24, 2019
Ohio State is getting a special talent. Here’s hoping he stays healthy for the rest of 2019.
On the Horizon…Just up Scottsdale Road from Chaparral there’s another pretty gifted quarterback who few talk about. Horizon senior Jake Martinelli isn’t only smart, he’s talented and can flat-out spin it.
The 6-foot, 180-pound senior captain threw two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Huskies made the trip down I-10 and whacked Marana 55-3 in a revenge game of sorts from last season’s opener. Martinelli only played into the third quarter before head coach Ty Wisdom called off the dogs (sorry…I just couldn’t resist that). “Jake really managed the game well,” Wisdom said afterwards. “[He] made good decisions with his arm and his feet. He’s a coach on the field.”
The Huskies scored on all eight possessions. The task will be much tougher next week when Higley comes to north Scottsdale.
Closer Than Expected…In a recent “Zone Read” my northern Arizona spies warned us about Prescott being sneaky good. Desert Edge can attest to that after holding on Friday night in Goodyear for a 34-24 win.
To no one’s surprise, junior four-star cornerback Steven Ortiz, Jr. had a key interception to help seal the win.
“Prescott was on a key drive in a big point in the game,” Edge head coach Jose Lucero said Friday night. “We were very fortunate that Steven was in the right spot and made a big play for us.”
Ortiz has a dozen Division I offers and expect that number to jump significantly in the coming months.
Can’t wait for Salpointe at Desert Edge in two weeks.
