VarsityXtra

Tempe Marcos de Niza’s leading receiver Justin Rodriguez will be back in the lineup this Friday for the Padres in their 5A-II quarterfinal game with Tucson Sunnyside.
Marcos de Niza coach Roy Lopez held Rodriguez out of last week’s 46-21 win over Phoenix Central. Lopez was not specific, but it was not due to injury.
Rodriguez is Marcos de Niza’s leading receiver with 38 catches for 688 yards and 10 touchdowns. Rodriguez also plays in the secondary and has three interceptions for the year. Tevin Newell and Ramon Abreu picked up the slack in the Padres passing game last week combining for six catches and 113 yards. Newell caught a TD pass from quarterback Zach Schira.

Mesa Dobson girls basketball players Kameron Knutson and Andrea Jones signed letters of intent Wednesday to attend the University of San Diego and Southern Utah, respectively, Mustangs coach Tyler Dumas said.

Mesa High boys center Blondy Baruti signed with Tulsa, according to Jackrabbits coach Shane Burcar. Also signing was Mesa Red Mountain girls shooting guard Erika Richards, who  signed with Fort Lewis, Colo.

Scottsdale Notre Dame’s Schaefer Whiteaker will play baseball and pursue medicine at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Mesa Mountain View point guard Jennifer Schlott has signed with Utah State, and Chandler Basha’s Enjoli Bland signed her letter to play for Sacred Heart in Connecticut.

To report other signings during this non-football signing period, email the info to the Trib to sports@evtrib.com, lwillsey@evtrib.com, mheller@evtrib.com or kodegard@evtrib.com.

Chandler Basha’s Richard Parker, the team’s leading receiver this season, will miss Friday’s playoff game with Phoenix St. Mary’s as a precaution from a hit he took in last week’s loss to Mesa Mountain View.
Basha coach Tim McBurney said Parker still needs observation to see if any symptoms remain from the hit. Parker, a senior, has 42 catches for 831 yards and two touchdowns this season. He’s averaging nearly 20 yards per reception. Basha quarterback Mike Benjamin is recovering from an ankle sprain he suffered early in the Mountain View game, but will be ready for Friday’s contest.

Mesa Mountain View point guard Jennifer Schlott has made a verbal commitment to play basketball at Utah State.
Schlott, a 5-foot-6 senior who will be starting for the fourth year in a row this fall for the Toros, averaged 9.7 points per game and 3.7 assists per games last season. She has been chosen to the all-East Valley region team each of her first three seasons. Mountain View was 5A-I state runner-up Schlott’s freshman year, reached the quarterfinals her sophomore year and advanced to the semifinals her junior season last year.

Charlie Hall, who coached Chandler High football for 10 years in two different stints, died on Sunday. He was 81.
Hall posted a record of 40 wins, 52 losses and two ties and is tied for the longest coaching tenure in school history at 10 years with Bill Austin. Hall’s first stint was 1952-1958 and he returned as coach from 1962-64. Hall’s 1958 team that went 6-4 in 1958 was honored last Friday night at the Chandler-Desert Vista game. Funeral arrangements are pending. Hall’s best record came in 1953 when the Wolves were 7-3.
Funeral services are 10 a.m. Saturday at Chandler First Church of the Nazarene, 301 N. Hartford St.

Mesa Skyline’s leading rusher and one of its top tacklers, Michael Bailey, will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, Coyotes coach Pete Jonovich said Wednesday.
“They think there might be an ACL (anterior crucitate ligament) tear,” Jonovich said. “They’ll do an MRI in about two weeks to know for sure.”
Bailey, a senior who plays quarterback, receiver and in the secondary, injured his knee on a scramble in the third quarter of last week’s 45-14 loss to Mesa Westwood. Bailey has 488 yards rushing and four touchdowns for the 2-6 Coyotes. He is also their second-leading tackler on the year with 44. Skyline visits Gilbert Perry on Friday.

Former Mesa Mountain View and Gilbert High football coach Jesse Parker will receive the first Coach Jesse Parker Legacy Award on Friday during a luncheon at the Mesa Marriott.
The award, a lifetime achievement honor, will be presented annually to a recipient to show support of educators and coaches who push for dedication and potential in their students and players. The luncheon is from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Registration fee is $25. Registration can be done from the link https://regonline.com/coach_jesse_parker_award_lunch.

Thanks to the probations handed out to Tucson Salpointe and Laveen Cesar Chavez’s football programs, as many as nine schools who currently are 3-5 or 2-5 have renewed hope to qualify for the 5A-I football playoffs.
Desert Vista, Highland, Skyline, Buena, Gilbert, Mountain Ridge, Corona del Sol, North and Tucson, however, must run the table in their final three games. If one does it will get the opportunity to play either Hamilton, Brophy or Mountain Pointe in the first round.
What the heck. The playoffs are the playoffs.

Mesa Mountain View boys soccer coach Kevin Sullivan died Sunday in Mesa after a 14-month battle with leukemia. He was 53.
Sullivan, active in the soccer community as a coach, player and official, guided the boys soccer program at the school since the 2005-2006 season after taking over for longtime coach Dom Scafaria.
Visitation will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Mountain View Memorial Gardens Mortuary, 7900 E. Apache Trail. Funeral services will be held Thursday morning.

Mesa Desert Ridge’s standout linebacker-receiver Sam Papa is out for the season with a severely strained hip suffered late in Friday night’s 35-34 loss to Phoenix Mountain Pointe.
Desert Ridge coach Jeremy Hathcock learned of that prognosis Saturday. Papa’s hip popped out of place on a play Papa was fighting to make a stop at his linebacker spot.
“He got stood up in a pile and then went down and did the splits,” Hathcock said. “It came out and kind of shifted. At first I was thinking it might be a Bo Jackson-kind of thing. But there are no broken bones. He’s going to have to rehab and be out about two months. The good news is he’ll be back next year. He’s a Division I recruit, so he’s got that future and next year with us ahead of him.”
Prior to Friday night’s game, Papa led Desert Ridge in receiving with 35 catches for 656 yards and five touchdowns. He also led the Jaguars in tackles (68) and sacks (5).