ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥

No local team won it all between Pusch Ridge Christian’s 2015 Division IV state championship and Sabino’s 2023 title.

It appears as though Sabino opened the floodgates. Less than a week later, Canyon del Oro won Tucson’s first big-school state championship since Salpointe Catholic took the 2013 title.

Then last year, Pusch Ridge won the Class 3A title and Mica Mountain captured the 4A championship.

“Oh, man, Tucson’s at the top,â€� said Tucson High head coach Zachary Neveleff. “I think we get frowned upon a lot, like, they don’t think we play football here in the 520. I think we do, we can compete with anyone in the state. I think there’s a lot of great football in Tucson, there’s been a lot of great athletes to come out of Tucson, so don’t sleep on Southern ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥.â€�

The last time Tucson-area teams took home four state championships in two years was in 1975 and 1976. In 1975 ,Amphitheater won the AAA title (the highest level) and Flowing Wells won the AA. Then in 1976, CDO won the AA and Tucson Deaf & Blind took the C championship.

“We’re on a come up,� said Tucson High sophomore safety Ezra Spivey. “They better watch out everywhere in the state.�

To be fair, in 2016 (Catalina Foothills 4A, Sabino 3A), 2017 (Salpointe 4A, Pusch Ridge 3A), 2018 (Salpointe 4A), 2020 (Benson 2A) and 2021 (Salpointe 5A, St. David 1A), Southern ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ schools finished second.

Mica Mountain hired Jay Campos to replace their first varsity head coach Pat Nugent, who retired on top. Campos, who went to Flagstaff Sinagua, went 133-35 at Sabino, led the Sabercats to the state championship game in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2016.

“People sometimes get down on Southern ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ football,â€� Campos said. “If you look at it from the 4A level on down, Southern ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ has been pretty well represented.

“It’s still going to be tough in the 6As and the Opens and even the 5A, because we don’t have the depth in the offensive and defensive lines,â€� he added. “And that’s the difference between Phoenix football at the highest levels, 5A and 6A and Southern ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ football is, we all have skilled kids but they have bigger linemen at the 5A and 6A level.â€�

Southern ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ has also produced high-level college talent of late, like Elijah Rushing (Oregon), Keona Davis (Nebraska) from Salpointe and Dezmen Roebuck (Washington) from Marana.

Mica Mountain won a state championship in its fifth season and third year playing a full varsity schedule.

The Thunderbolts weren’t a one-hit wonder, in 2023, they went 11-2, only losing to undefeated state champion CDO. After going 14-0 last year, Mica Mountain won 30 games in a row since Oct. 7 2023, other than those two road losses to the Dorados.

“It was amazing,� said senior defensive end/tight end Sergio Raygada on winning the state championship. “You can never experience anything like that.�

Tucson-area teams have found success besides just the state champions.

Last year, Tucson’s lone 6A team, Salpointe, won the city’s first region championship at the highest level. The Lancers edged second-place Phoenix Brophy Prep, whose adjusted enrollment is 2,656 (the AIA doubles the enrollment for single-sex schools like Brophy).

Salpointe’s enrollment is 1,305.

Meanwhile, Tucson’s strongest level last year was 5A. Tucson or Marana had five 5A-level teams make the playoffs, plus Sierra Vista Buena. Marana led the way with a 10-0 regular season, earning the top seed in the Open as the highest-ranked team in the whole state.

Tucson High, which leads Southern ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ with 13 state championships, won its first playoff game since 1971 last year. The Badgers beat Cienega, a school led by former Tucson High coach Justin Argraves.

“I think it’s all subjective, right? Like, I’ve won and played in a lot of playoff games, I’ve been in the state championship games, all of those, but to do it for this school, with such great history and everything like that,� Neveleff said. “And then to do it in the fashion of beating the old coach that was here prior to me and really just getting a playoff win for the first time in over 50 years is truly amazing and it’s nothing to brag about, but what I told our kids is we’re expected to make the playoffs now, it’s an expectation every year to make the playoffs.

“Your goal is to win a state championship, right?,� he added. “So it’s just, that’s just a little microcosm of getting to your goal.�

Neveleff graduated from Salpointe in 2010 and then coached running backs for the Lancers. He coached players like Tucsonan turned Atlanta Falcon Bijan Robinson.

While 2A features schools like Santa Rita (state runner-up in 2008 and 2009) and Palo Verde (state champions in 1973 and 2005) — dropping down due to decreased enrollment, Tanque Verde won its first playoff game in 2023. Tanque Verde, which fielded its first football team in 2007, was 0-10 in 2019.

At the 1A level, last season, Desert Christian reached the playoffs in its debut campaign.

“I feel like everything’s been going good, everybody’s ready to compete and ready to see the teams come on,� Mica’s Raygada said.