VarsityXtra

Scottsdale Saguaro running back Beau Burton is going to play football next season for Utah.

Burton has been putting up solid numbers for three years at Saguaro, but only had two offers (from UNLV and Colorado State) before the Utes got in the mix. Burton’s biggest knocks were his speed and academics, but has worked hard at both. Utah immediately offered after getting Burton’s SAT scores.

Utah runs the same spread offense as Saguaro, so it shouldn’t take Burton too much time to catch on.

Red socks don’t go with purple and gold uniforms, but those at Queen Creek High School who wore the combination Friday weren’t concerned with fashion.
Every Bulldogs football player and cheerleader wore red socks for the 4A Division II state quarterfinal game against Phoenix Greenway in memory of former classmate and teammate Lorin Merkely.
Merkely, who graduated in May and whose favorite color was red, passed away earlier in the week due to cancer.
Additionally, many of the football players shaved their heads, several fans wore No. 62 T-shirts and 62 red balloons were released before the game in Merkely’s honor.
Last Friday Merkely was presented the game ball after Queen Creek beat Phoenix Moon Valley in a first-round playoff game.
Merkely was a part of the football program for four years and was a starting offensive guard last season.

Chandler Seton Catholic senior volleyball player Molly Barlow intends to sign a letter of intent with High Point University (North Carolina) later this month, according to her mother, Lisa.
Barlow (5-foot-9) is an outside hitter for the 28-4 Sentinels, who are the No. 2 seed in 4A Division II state playoffs. Seton, last year’s runner-up, hosts Page on Wednesday in the first round of the tournament.

Mesa Westwood girls volleyball coach Steve Crook has between one and four matches left in his coaching tenure for the Warriors. If and when the Warriors lose a match between Wednesday and next Tuesday that will be it for a guy who has given much more than he’s taken as a coach of local high school athletes.

Taking over at Westwood in 1992 Crook will leave with at least one state title (1994) and a pair of runner-up finishes. But along with being a great Xs and Os mentor, Crook’s development of Club Red and the tutelage he has offered to kids from Westwood and all over the East Valley with Club Red has been extraordinary.

Crook is the consummate professional and as good as it gets as an ambassador for his sport. He truly has given much more than he’s taken. Hats off to a a guy who embodies all things good as a coach.

Welcome to this year’s Chandler Hamilton: 5-foot-10, 205-pound Zachery Bauman. He may not win many sprint competitions, but he’s agile, hits a hole, drags a pile and can’t be tackled above the thigh. (Julio Jimenez/Tribune)

Not to sound like a broken record - even if it is one - but Chandler Hamilton has to be the favorite heading into the 5A Division I playoffs (with Mesa Mountain View in the passenger seat, though the only undefeated school in 5A-I isn’t exactly in anyone’s blind spot).

The intrigue with these Huskies - and a prime reason why they’re well-coached - is how different this year’s model is from recent years.

When Gerell Robinson and Kerry Taylor lined up, the Huskies were a quick-strike team happy to burn teams with one or two plays. Voila!  Touchdown.

Those weapons are at Arizona State now, and since the Huskies had three-fourths of their defense returning, a new offense needed to be developed.

Emphasis on new. Zakary Hambsch has more mobility than recent Huskies quarterbacks, so Hamilton has shelved much of its gun-slinging style (which is what Chandler has done this season) in favor of an option-esque system.

Drew Terrell and Alante Wright still get down the field and make plays (including a couple huge 3rd-and-long receptions which kept drives alive), but during Friday night’s crunch time, the Huskies ran dive running plays, one after another.

Chandler had just cut Hamilton’s lead to 27-18 midway through the third quarter when the Huskies went to work from their own 34 yard line.

The Huskies rumbled downfield with Zachery Bauman and Dante Alexander for four, five and six-yard runs, most up the gut with an occasional sweep to the outside.

Hambsch hit (while being hit) Ethan Kipili’i for 18 yards on 3rd-and-10. He also flipped a swing pass to Bauman which went for 26 yards (that kid is hard to tackle).

Mostly, though, it was Alexander, who had seven consecutive carries during a six-minute drive. Hambsch finished it with a 3-yard touchdown dive of his own (bummer for Alexander, who did the dirty work and Hambsch got the glory, not that either of them care).

Sometimes Hambsch - who is terrific at ball fakes - runs QB keepers, sometimes they run the option, sometimes Hambsch rolls out and hits Terrell or Wright on intermediate routes.

This is what they do, and they’ve learned to do it well.  The Huskies haven’t scored fewer than 30 points since the loss to Peoria Centennial (and not scoring against Centennial or Phoenix Brophy isn’t exactly an offense gone bad).

No thrills. No reliance on acrobatics or 6-foot-4 speedsters.

Dive. Option. Pass. Sneak. Sweep.

WIn.

One of these days, Chandler High will leave the field as jubilant as they arrive against Chandler Hamilton. It’s not for a lack of trying or ability, so what is it? (Julio Jimenez/Tribune)

In the wake of a 10th consecutive could-have-been, should-have-been showdown between Chandler High and Chandler Hamilton on Friday night, this much couldn’t be more clear:

The Wolves are exasperated.

Some games between these two city schools have been blowouts, a couple (such as Friday) have been nail-biters. Most have finished somewhere in between.

Immediately following Wolves coach Jim Ewan’s talk to his team Friday night, they trudged off the field to the locker room, and it felt like the team’s loss to Tempe Corona del Sol hit the players harder emotionally, at least in the immediate aftermath.

Hamilton coach Steve Belles was right when he praised Chandler’s comeback attempt and skill-position players.

Outside the interception by Anthony Jones which essentially won the game for Hamilton - and it’s hard to look past that - Wolves quarterback Kyle Yount was terrific. He threw with accuracy and stayed with plays knowing he was going to take a licking (which he did in the final quarter).

Taylor Walstad was a force in the second half running and receiving. Markus Wheaton made a couple tremendous catches (especially when he laid out and reeled in a 38-yarder in the second quarter to set up Chandler’s first touchdown). Bryce Lamb was a threat until he got nicked up late, and a shaky defense made a red-zone stand which led to a missed field goal and recovered a fumble to give the offense a chance.

Ewan’s right when he referenced this team as having the best chance to beat Hamilton as he’s had in a decade.

He’s also right that this will become a rousing rivalry once the Wolves live up to their end of the deal and win once or twice.

It’s always something new which has kept the Wolves as only contenders. This time, Hamilton went up the gut to block two extra points and force another one wide left.

That’s at least three otherwise-gimmee points off the board in a game where a field goal or touchdown/extra point could have made a big difference. The Huskies also started four of their drives in Chandler territory thanks to shoddy kick coverage (though Hamilton also had a couple long returns go against them).

So chalk this one up to special teams, a facet which hadn’t really proven decisive in these outcomes until now.

The current state of this rivalry, however,  isn’t going away. It’ll be loud, crowded and emotional. They’ll stay together in this new, whacked-out region plan for the next two-year block.

But with the talent gap between the schools having shrunk a bit, there seems to be a psychological block at work here.

Words weren’t necessary to reveal a boiled-up aggravation Friday night, and it’s hard not to sympathize with the Wolves.  As was the case against Phoenix Desert Vista and Tempe Corona del So, showcase they can be an elite team, but instead wind up disheartened.