VarsityXtra

Vaughn and his Pride improved their record to 7-0 with a come from behind 35-34 victory against Desert Ridge High School last Friday night. Mountain Pointe was down 28 points before rallying for the win. Running backs De’Andre Currie (18 carries for 199 yards and two touchdowns) and Davon Jones (23 carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns) both starred in the victory.

Phoenix Mountain Pointe coach Norris Vaughan was named the Cardinals coach of the week.

The Pride fell behind 28-0 at halftime against Mesa Desert Ridge but rallied for a 35-34 victory last Friday night to improve to 7-0 on the season.

Running backs De’Andre Currie (18 carries for 199 yards and two touchdowns) and Davon Jones (23 carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns) both starred in the win.

The award will be presented to Vaughn and the Mountain Pointe football team on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the school’s Retro Hall following classes for the day.

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.

Monday was only the first of two day’s worth of high school golf regionals in 4A Division II, and Higley senior Malin Mathisen stole the show.

The senior exchange student from Norway fired her first hole-in-one at Las Colinas Golf Course with a 9-iron from 102 yards away off the tee at No. 6.

Mathisen finished with a 77 for Higley (374) which enters the final round in second place behind Scottsdale Notre Dame (301).

Williams Field’s starting quarterback, Nick Gaylord, reinjured his foot in the second half of a win against Notre Dame two weeks ago and did not play on Friday against Maricopa.

The injury originally happened in the season opener against Dysart and kept him out of three games. Gaylord returned for an Oct. 2 game against Chandler Seton but injured it again the next week against the Saints.

He will see some action on Friday night on both offense and defense, but Tom Ross, who has done a nice job filling in for Gaylord, will take the majority of the snaps under center, Williams Field coach Campbell said.

There is no set plan going forward, as Campbell waits to see how quickly Gaylord recovers from the injury.

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Although Friday’s game against Higley looks lopsided because of drastically different records heading in (Williams Field is 7-0; Higley 1-6), this game means a lot for both sides.

With the way the school boundaries are set up, many of the Williams Field students actually drive past Higley to get to school. There are neighborhoods in which some kids go to Higley and others to Williams Field.

Between five and seven of the Black Hawks’ current starters played for Higley’s freshman team three years ago, Campbell said.

You can bet Higley wants nothing more than a win over a group of players it used to play with.

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).

Mesa Dobson senior guard Andrea Jones has given a verbal commitment to play basketball next season at Southern Utah, Dobson coach Tyler Dumas said Thursday.
Jones visited Southern Utah last and loved the staff, players, campus and school making the decision quickly. Jones will be playing in her fourth varsity season next month when the 2009-2010 season begins. She averaged 12.8 points per game, 5.2 assists per game and 3.2 steals per game for the 24-9 Mustangs.

Former Mesa High standout Gabriela Valles was selected NAIA national offensive player of the week and Golden State Athletic Conference player of the week for women’s soccer after a five-goal week that helped Vanguard University to a pair of victories.
Valles, a sophomore midfielder, scored three goals in a 4-1 win over and top-ranked California Baptist and capped her week with two more goals and an assist in a 3-0 win over Embry-Riddle Aeronautical, Ariz. Vanguard is ranked ninth in the NAIA women’s soccer rankings nationally.

Chandler Basha quarterback Mike Benjamin was an obvious choice for the Cardinals player of the week honors after he ran for a school-record 270 yards and four touchdowns in a win against Gilbert Highland.

The senior has completed 68 percent of his passes for 1,043 yards and five touchdowns. He’s also run for 627 yards and seven TDs for the 5-1 Bears, who face Mesa Dobson on Friday night.

Benjamin will receive a plaque before practice on Thursday afternoon.