Salpointe Catholic proving it belongs with 6A heavyweights, but can it take down Liberty?
In its second year at the 6A level, Tucson Salpointe Catholic has quickly shown that it belongs with the top schools in the state for football. The Lancers went 7-5 last year in the conference, winning an overtime playoff game against Gilbert Williams Field before losing to eventual 6A champion Gilbert Highland in the second round.
This season, Salpointe Catholic has jumped out to a 6-0 start and is ranked No. 10 in the AIA's 6A rankings. As of now, the Lancers fall outside of the top eight teams in the state that would make the Open Division playoffs.
Liberty, meanwhile, is ranked No. 2 overall in the state by the AIA behind Centennial. Those teams are reversed in The Republic's Super 10, with Liberty No. 1. Salpointe is No. 10 in The Republic's 6A rankings.
Salpointe faces its biggest test of the season this Friday night as they make the long 141-mile trip up north on I-10 to take on No. 1 Liberty in one of the most-anticipated games of the week.
The sole loss for the Lions came to Corona Centennial (CA) on Sept. 22, which is No. 19 in the latest MaxPreps national rankings. And in that game, Liberty had a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter before falling 42-35.
It’s hard to argue against Liberty — which just routed No. 8 Pinnacle 57-19 last week — as the best team in Arizona, despite what the AIA formulas may compute.
The task ahead for the Salpointe Catholic is tall. With all of that swirling around the game, coach Eric Rogers wants his team, the only Tucson-area team ranked in the Top 10 in 6A, to keep it simple.
“We try to treat them all the same," Rogers said. "We're really focused on us and playing our best game. We try not to worry about who our opponent is. We've had six opponents up to this time, many of them didn't have a winning record, so we weren't focused on who the opponent was. We've tried to stay focused on being the best we can be. I don't really want to change that.
"Obviously, Liberty's unbelievable. They probably are the top team in the state. But they're arguably one of the top teams in the country. They're extremely well-coached and very disciplined. They're very creative on offense, they do a lot of things to try to get you unbalanced. Defensively, they're very sound, they don't make a lot of mistakes. All over the board, just a great football team."
Salpointe is led by a multifaceted running attack with senior running backs Jaxson Banhie and Jaylin Willis-Dannard.
The duo split the load almost equally as Banhie has 449 yards on 59 carries and Willis-Dannard has 407 yards on 67 carries. The biggest difference comes in touchdown production with Banhie at 10 and Willis-Dannard at 4.
The Lancers like to run it, and they do it often, averaging 34.8 rushing attempts as a team per game. In an era where most offenses spread it wide and throw the ball, Salpointe is a throwback with its punishing ground game.
“They’re big on both sides on the line of scrimmage, good size, physical team,” Liberty coach Colin Thomas said. “That’s something that shows up each week on film for them. It’s going to be a game where we’re going to have to tackle well and get ahold of those (running) backs before they get started.”
On defense, the Lancers feature not only the top recruit in Arizona with defensive end Elijah Rushing but also one of the top overall recruits in the United States. Rushing is a 6-6, 251-pound five-star prospect, and he just made news off the field this past week as he announced his de-commitment from the University of Arizona.
This week, he’ll to look bring the attention back to the field as he tries to collapse the pocket and put pressure on Liberty’s talented senior quarterback Navi Bruzon, the reigning Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year. Rushing has eight sacks on the season to go along with 33 quarterback hurries.
How do you stop him?
“That’s a good question, I don’t know. We’ll find out, right?” Thomas said. “At this level, you don’t see many players with that type of size and length and speed. That makes it challenging. Usually you get a big (defensive) end who doesn’t have that type of speed, or who has that speed but doesn’t have that type of size. He’s a tremendous player and ranked that way for a reason. It’s going to be a great test for us.”
It’s not just Rushing that Thomas and the Lions will have to focus on for its gameplan. Opposite of Rushing is senior Keona Wilhite, who has six sacks of his own on the season. The two are widely considered to be the defensive end duo in the state.
“Both of the defensive ends are really good, and their noseguard (Noah Banhie) is really good too. It’s a big challenge going against their defensive front, and that’s why not many people have had success on them. We got to put a plan together and see how it works come Friday.”
On offense, Liberty will look to counter the front seven of Salpointe Catholic with its talented running back, senior Jon Wilson. The transfer from Las Vegas has quickly become one of the top running backs in Arizona.
Wilson has touched the ball 68 times and amassed 793 yards and 11 touchdowns. That's 11.3 yards per carry. He's averaging 132.2 yards a game.
"Listen, he's the real deal, there's no doubt," Rogers said about Wilson. "He's big, he's fast, he's strong. He runs with authority. When you watch him on film you're like, 'Golly.' He runs with a purpose."
This game is significant for both teams.
For Liberty, it’s an impressive notch on the belt as it remains laser-focused on overcoming the Open semifinal hump that has derailed the season the past two years.
A win for Salpointe would represent a monumental moment for the program in its second year at the biggest level of football in Arizona.
“If you wanna look at the big picture and further down the road, which we really try not to, then obviously if you win this football game, then there's talk about the Open (playoffs)," said. "There's talk about being one of those top teams in this state. We want to go out there, play hard, play physical and we'll let the chips fall where they may."
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Salpointe Catholic makes long trek to face No. 1 Liberty in key 6A game
