VarsityXtra

Finished my first road trip to Coolidge in 18 months of service at the Tribune, and I survived, which is never a given with me.The city had been without electricity for the past two days, which not only wreaked havoc on the city and football team’s preparations for Blue Ridge (and yes, rest assured those 3A rankings are going to change next week), but life itself.Some kids were able to seek refuge with friends who had generators, others had to go to Florence or Casa Grande and stay with friends. Other families had no choice but to suffer in the August oppression.After two days of no school, and, for many, two nights of 90 degree

sleeping weather, with little wind and the farm "aroma" circling above,

order has been restored.About 3 p.m. Friday, the city was back up and running again, and the game was on. There were initially rumors the game would have to be moved to Chandler Hamilton, then rumors floated they’d have to find a way to get to Blue Ridge instead.As it happened, the Bears probably wanted to cancel this one. They had their moments on defense and in the running game, but a town spoiled by Jesse Wheeler at quarterback the past two seasons better get used to change.Meanwhile, Blue Ridge is as good as it gets in 3A.Coolidge has won two state titles in a row, and Carlo Hernandez is as good as it gets, but a third title is a long way away. Loooooonng way away.For the what-have-you-done-for-me lately crowd, welcome to reality. Nobody I talked to afterward was jumping off the roof at being 0-2.They just wanted cold water again.

I couldn’t help but be reminded of Deion Sanders when watching Hamilton quarterback/wide reciver Gerell Robinson Thursday night. The athleticism, the versatility… but also the way he held the ball. Instead of tucking and cradling it, Robinson would hold it away from his body while running. It bit him once, when his own leg hit the ball and forced a fumble. At that point it was a 10-point game and gave Brophy the ball in Huskies territory.Brophy running back Ray Polk fumbled a few minutes later and Hamilton eventually put the game away, but it is an easily correctable mistake of which the Hamilton coaching staff is assuredly well aware. The Huskies proved Thursday that their personnel matches up with anyone’s in the state, but turnovers can be just as important as talent in big games.

If there’s a more animated football coach in the East Valley than Hamilton defensive coordinator Manny Palomarez, the coaching ranks must be rife with blood-pressure conscious pill poppers.Alternately pounding the glass when an official made a bad call (as if they could hear him) and cheering his boys when they did something well, Palomarez was better theater than Thursday’s sloppy early-season game between Hamilton and Brophy, if you happened to have a nearby seat in the press box where he was caged.Just when I started to worry about Manny’s long-term health, the game ended and the same cheerful, teddy bear of man emerged with that smile and softspoken voice that I had seen and heard so many times before.Yin and Yang. Fourteen more weeks, Manny. Hang in there. Football is an emotional game.

It’s Hamilton-Brophy night, but before the boss (Craig Morgan) and I spend rush hour(s) getting to Phoenix College, the Tribune’s Suns guru, Jerry Brown, passed this along from a high school game in New York (It’s the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YnnnnyMjCwIt’s been bantered about on the airways and water coolers recently, but off the cuff I can’t figure out if this would be a legal play in Arizona.If no one on the sideline is yelling at the field as part of the play it could be legal, as shouting from coaches could be viewed as deception and unsportsmanlike conduct.The other question is whether a coach holding up a football on the sideline would be allowed.Any rules hounds, AIA officials or Arizona football referees out there?

With prep football in full swing this week, that means it is open season for high school students to

It takes a lot to get a stadium named after you, especially when you coached at multiple schools in your career.Then again, Karl Kiefer has done a lot, far beyond the 308 games he won in 45 years of blowing his whistle.Starting Friday, Phoenix Mountain Pointe will play its home games at Karl Kiefer Stadium, a coronation to honor Arizona’s all-time winningest coach.Kiefer suffered a stroke a few years ago, and with his wife’s urging, gave up running the big-time football team. These days he’s a JV assistant with the Pride, and based on a recent conversation, couldn’t be happier.These days, Phil Abbadessa runs the show at Mountain Pointe for a second season after 25 years as Kiefer’s assistant at three different schools. Dollars to doughnuts says 70 percent of the current East Valley football coaches have some kind of Karl Kiefer connection.

Little guys can still come up big in high school football. Westwood’s Adam Garcia proved that again last Friday night in helping the Warriors trim Gilbert, 8-7.Garcia, who is 5-foot-5, and weighs 135 pounds tops, was all over the field making sure tackles from the secondary, stopping return men on special teams or sneaking through the masses to haul in the game-winning two-point conversion with 53 seconds left to give Westwood a season-opening win. And what was great to see was Gilbert assistant Angelo Paffumi searching out Garcia to congratulate him on a fine game. One couldn’t find Garcia in a Warriors’ pre-game huddle, but he certainly stood out when the lights were bright.

As usual, the Chaparral faithful were out in full force on Friday night. The students were singing so loudly during the national anthem they actually drowned out those with the microphones. I doubt any of those kids will be making the cut at American Idol anytime soon, but hey, at least they were being patriotic.The halftime highlight was a boxer-clad youth streaking across the field. For the record, the trek was successful, as he jumped a fence and scurried off into the night.As for on the field news, the guess here is that Spencer Stone starts at quarterback for the foreseeable future. Chaparral coach Charlie Ragle said he would have to look at film of last night’s game before making a decision, but the offense really got in gear when he took the reins midway through the second quarter.

High school coaches and players finally have something they can agree upon. The offseason was too short.For players, a summer spent chilling with friends is in the books. It