Saguaro football returns to play, drops game to Mountain Ridge

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Butch Goncharoff was just happy to get back on the field.

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Scottsdale Saguaro played its first varsity football game in three weeks, losing 45-6 to visiting Glendale Mountain Ridge on Sept. 18.

Saguaro hadn't played since its season-opening 62-0 loss to Scottsdale Desert Mountain on Aug. 28. The Sabercats were forced to cancel the last two games, against Scottsdale Chaparral and ALA Queen Creek, due to safety concerns stemming from player injuries. Saguaro has 35 total players on its varsity roster after canceling its freshman and JV seasons.

The game was 14-6 after the first quarter before Mountain Ridge went on a 31-0 scoring run.

“It was good, good for the kids,” Goncharoff said. “It’s been a long (three) weeks. We’re extremely young, as you can tell. But we got better. And I think that’s the thing – we started out better. With so many kids going two ways, we just ran out of gas. Give credit to them (Mountain Ridge), they’re a really good football team. Well-coached. They went up and down the field.”

Saguaro — which is running a hybrid Wing-T offense — had a chance to cut the lead the 28-14 early in the third quarter after wide receiver sophomore Demari Hardwick got the ball just outside the red zone.

But then Mountain Ridge senior safety Max Olson stripped Hardwick on the next play and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown to go up 35-6 with 9:16 left in the third quarter.

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“We felt pretty good at halftime if we can correct some things,” Goncharoff said. “Come out the half, go right down the field and then a huge turnover. The wheels came off after that.”

There were some bright spots for Saguaro, particularly with junior wide receiver/running back Mar'taj Meadows. He scored the lone touchdown on the night for Saguaro on a 26-yard run early in the first quarter. Meadows set up that same drive with a long kickoff return.

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“We like what our young guys are doing, they’ve gotten better from game one,” Goncharoff said. “Most of these guys haven’t played football before. From where we started, they’ve done a really good job.”

Meadows was injured in the second quarter though, and missed the rest of the game.

Outside of that, Goncharoff said he’s “pretty sure” the team came out the game “fairly healthy.”

While it was another blowout loss and a running clock was put in during the third quarter, there is momentum beginning to build incrementally within the program.

“(Three) weeks ago, the first game, we kind of just gave up, if I’m being honest,” Goncharoff said. “And they know that. It was 13-0, guys went down, wheels came off. We watched film, they were mad about it. We didn’t quit today. 

“Our kids came and they battled. And they’re young. We have five or six freshmen out there, sophomore o-linemen, kids that haven’t played, and they competed. And I think that’s thing. We got better. There’s a lot of things we got better on. We’re a long ways from being good. I think we’re starting to trend in the right direction.”

Saguaro junior quarterback Edison Orellana could see the difference in the team from August until now.

“It was definitely good,” Orellana said about playing again. “We improved a lot over the (three) weeks of us practicing. We just gotta be better next game and for every game we continue. It’s like that for everyone. We just gotta be better as a team. The team’s feeling way better. There’s way more leadership, including me.”

Goncharoff says there are no plans to cancel the season and the team intends on finishing its schedule. Saguaro (0-2) plays Phoenix Pinnacle next.

Mountain Ridge scored early and often, with senior quarterback Amar Sutkovic hitting junior wide receiver Luke Weber for a 45-yard touchdown pass on the third play of the game.

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Sophomore running back Ben Rich made it 14-6 late in the first with a four-yard touchdown run. A few plays later in the second quarter, junior safety Ben Rizzo extended the lead 20-6 after he returned a fumble 20 yards for a touchdown. 

Sutkovic added another touchdown on the ground in the second quarter to go up 28-6. Weber had the final score of the game on a 10-yard pass with 4:24 left in the third.

Over on the visiting sidelines watching his former school was Mountain Ridge coach Andrew Johnson, who served as the co-offensive coordinator for three years at Saguaro under Jason Mohns and Zak Hill. Johnson was part of the 2021 Open state championship staff at Saguaro.

“It was bittersweet,” Johnson said. “I feel like our program is headed in a great direction. Our momentum is good, we wanted to come out and make a statement. But I got a lot of love here, a lot of people I still love here that I got to see. It’s weird seeing it from across the other sideline.

“They played their hearts out for what they got out here and I appreciate them. It’s good to be back, to see it. I love where our team is headed right now.”

Mountain Ridge (3-1) hosts Phoenix Desert Vista next.

Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, college and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at [email protected] or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @RLSscribe.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Saguaro football returns to play, drops game to Mountain Ridge

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