NCAA Football

Wild West Justice And High School Football: Arizona Coach Ousted For Resting Starters

No one ever made a critically loved award-winning drama about Arizona high school football. Recruits around the state don’t show up for signings in limos like counterparts from the bleach-blonde neighbor to the west. No prospect from the desert has inspired an obnoxious battle when choosing an adjacent state’s university.

But that doesn’t mean people in Scottsdale, Arizona don’t want to at least look like they take their prep football seriously.

Saguaro High School had an oustanding 2011 season. Its victories read like Orange Bowl-esque beatdowns. 70-21 against Thunderbird. 63-20 over Paradise Valley. 56-0 over fellow Scottsdale DIII member Coronado. Its only loss before the last week of the regular season? A respectable 31-28 defeat that came on an end of regulation field goal to the eventual champion of the biggest division of the state, Desert Vista.

A lot of the success of Saguaro in recent years can be attributed to head coach John Sanders. He began his career knocking off 32 straight wins and helping establish the Phoenix suburb’s public school atop its class. Saguaro isn’t alone when it comes to dominance from Scottsdale in the middle tier divisions of Arizona football. The city’s other dominant football program is Chaparral, which had been playing so well in the lower class that it moved up a level to Division II – and swiftly won that division’s championship.

Still, the schools are neighbors, just a few miles apart. But, due to the realignment from the Firebirds, the schools hadn’t played in two seasons. That changed this year when both schools, safely in the playoffs in their respective divisions, squared off on October 28th. In what would be only their second loss of the season – again, to a school from a higher division – the Saguaro Sabrecats would fall. We’ll come back to this result in a moment.

The Sabrecats rolled into the Division III playoffs as the five seed after the loss hurt them in the power rankings that determine bracket positioning. They won in the first round by an absurd 81-48 score over Sunrise Mountain. They “struggled” with Queen Creek to the tune of 56-28 and snuck by the overall number one Sabino 49-27. In the DIII Championship, they passed by Cactus, 31-23,  earning their second straight championship.

Ignore the fact that Saguaro finished 2011, including the playoffs, at 12-2. Please disregard that in five years, Sanders led the Sabrecats to a record of 62-7 and four mid-division titles. All the victories, trophies and rings that Sanders brought to Saguaro are meaningless because of the affront that Saguaro faithful believed Sanders pulled in that October game against the Firebirds.

NEXT: The fate of John Sanders as Saguaro coach. Was justice served?

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