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Commentary by Matt Hickman
For area schools Bisbee, Buena and Tombstone, the recently completed football season is mercifully over.
None of them made state and the three teams combined for just nine wins — the lowest total between them since 1998.
The main culprit — insanely difficult schedules that not only hurt win-loss records, they hurt a program’s mental and physical health.
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Here’s my take on where these programs are at and what the future may hold for them:
Buena
Three years ago, Buena pulled off its first winning season in over a decade. But their 6-4 finish was not quite good enough to earn them a state playoff spot because their schedule, which featured winless San Luis and Class 4A Sahuaro, did not give them enough power points. So, then head coach Mike Vezzosi put together a two-year block that included the likes of nationally ranked Hamilton and always powerful east valley schools Chandler Basha and Gilbert.
In that two-year block the Colts have gone 5-15 and have yet to win a non-region game.
With next year’s schedule to be determined after the AIA realigns conferences and regions later this month, expect first-year head coach Kent Holland to be looking for much lighter foes.
As usual Buena has plenty of skill position players coming back who have the potential to play on Saturdays.
Junior linebacker DeAndre Little is a fearsome tackler with outstanding leadership abilities who will draw plenty of looks from college scouts next season.
Junior DeChé Milburn is probably the most gifted wide receiver in Southern Arizona, catching 29 balls at 22 yards a pop and eight touchdowns. Also returning is Ryan Witt, a dependable middle-of-the-field ball-catcher, who hauled in 26 passes for 499 yards and six scores.
Scatback Xavier Cooper torched opposing junior varsity defenses all season, and in his first varsity carry in the season-finale at Casa Grande he bolted 48 yards to the end zone before the Cougar defense could even see him. Cooper may be undersized, but with the Colts likely ill-suited to have any power running game next season, his big play capablility could provide the next best thing.
The Colts figure to have quite a competition for the starting quarterback job next summer with sophomore Jeremy Tuttle in a battle for the starting spot with J.T. May, who came up from the JV to lead the team in passing with 511 yards and a 51 percent completion percentage in the final three games.
Whichever quarterback wins the starting job, it matters little. In 2008, the Colts, implementing four- and five-receiver sets, weren’t able to slow opposing pass rushers much at all.
As a result, Colt quarterbacks took a beating and Buena used four different quarterbacks who all threw roughly the same number of passes.
Buena was undersized in the trenches this season and will likely be again next year. And you can’t grow a powerful, cohesive offensive or defensive line overnight. The Colts will again be implementing a spread, passing offense partly because that’s the kind of offense Holland likes and partly because Holland doesn’t have the personnel to run it down anyone’s throat.
The best chance for Buena to turn things around is their schedule. Because with Tucson High now a program on the rise and Casa Grande no longer in the Southern Region, wins could be tough to come by, whether the AIA allows all Southern Region 5A teams to drop to Division II or not.
The best answer is for Holland to put together the easiest schedule imaginable.
I’m talking 5A go-nowheres like North and Yuma and Alhambra and 4As like Douglas, Nogales, Cholla, Catalina. Forget the power points that will be lost. The AIA system is so remedial and it doesn’t reward tough schedules — it rewards wins and it is so unsophisticated it can’t tell the difference between good ones and cupcakes.
The confidence to be gained from a 3-0 start heading into region is undoubtedly worth the false sense of superiority that comes with it.
Bisbee
Even more than Buena, Bisbee was hurt by its ridiculously difficult schedule that featured one 4A team and two top 3A programs.
Apart from that, the Pumas were limited by a lack of speed outside the tackles. Opposing defenses could simply pile up between the hashes and take away the inside run of Thor Acuna and Anthony Silva.
Bisbee’s passing game could never loosen things up enough and the Pumas were reduced to a plodding, predictable offense. Defensively, Bisbee played well when it needed to, but a rash of injuries took their toll.
Next season, the Pumas figure to be faster around the edges with Cesar Alcala returning and freshman Anthony Rivera showing promise.
Bisbee head coach Truman Williamson has indicated he plans to shake up his schedule dramatically. He will, however, have to keep Douglas on the schedule for historical and cultural relevance, but perhaps the AIA could be persuaded to make Douglas a non-counting game for Bisbee, leaving the Pumas with just nine counting games.
Tombstone
Years of success drove Tombstone into the habit of scheduling difficult opponents. As the program tries to return to those days of glory, they can take encouragement in turnout that regularly exceeds 50 players even in the losingest of seasons.
Former Tombstone High star player and current assistant coach Joe Thomas is the logical heir apparent to longtime head coach Mike Hayhurst when the 200-game winner decides to hang up his whistle.
Players clearly respond to Thomas evident in the way they saved an extra bucket of Gatorade to bathe him against his will right after they doused Hayhurst following their 19-18 win over Bisbee in the season finale.
The Yellowjackets lose plenty from this year’s team, but don’t be surprised to see them post a winning record in 2009.
Seen it wrote on Nov 14, 2008 9:46 AM:
Instead of teaching the kids the basics, as you suggest, how about teaching them to not quit or to be motivated? You can have all the basic skills, but without the will to play and not quit, it is all for nought. Another issue is the extremely poor programs in the middle schools that feed Buena. Playing flag football for 6th and 7th grade and just starting to play full contact in 8th grade. That is not a way to build a program. It is too late to build it in high school. "