This past Friday I drove down to Vail, Arizona to watch two of the top programs in Southern Arizona battle it out in a 5A showdown. Led by 5 turnovers forced on defense and a three touchdown performance from Senior standout Terrell Hayward, the Cienega Bobcats rolled to a 44-28 victory on homecoming night, moving them to 7-1 on the season.

Let me take you through Terrell Hayward’s performance on Friday night: 1st Q red zone interception. 2nd Q returned kick off for a touchdown. 3rd Q Hayward catches a quick pass and zig zags through the defense for a 74 yard touchdown. 4th Q Hayward blazes past a Marana DB on a hitch-and-go route, hauling in his 3rd touchdown of the game. Hayward has showed once again why he’s one of the top playmakers in the state. Hayward was the best football player on the field last Friday night.

The Bobcats’ Senior had a night to remember. Burroughs accounted for 3 of Cienega’s 5 turnover forced on defense. Burroughs came away with two fumble recoveries and an interception in the red zone.

Geo Owens showed off his blazing speed on a 1st Q touchdown run, turning on the jets as he turned the corner on a sweep for a 54 yard touchdown run. Owens finished the night with 125 yards on only 9 carriers. Big night for the Senior running back.

Trenton Bourguet literally played all over the field for Marana on Friday night. I saw the QB play WR, CB, and even lead block on a few plays. The Marana Senior threw for a touchdown pass and also caught a touchdown from his brother Treyson late in the game. The dual-threat gun-slinger displayed great pocket awareness by consistently eluding defenders and throwing an accurate ball on the run.

If I had 11 Tariq Jordans on my football team, I’d have a double digit win team every single year. He’s big, strong, athletic, starts both ways, and just constantly makes big play after big play. Tariq had 3 1st half sacks on defense; then later snagged a 50/50 ball over a Cienega DB that he took 90 yards to the house. Tariq Jordan is a special talent.

TJ Cephers reminds me of an old school LB. He doesn't shy away from contact, he sheds blocks, and he has a nose for the ball carrier. He filled the A and B-gap on a couple dive plays where he just blew up the running back. He plays the game like a shark hunts a school of fish. He’s extremely fast with his reads, and he's a great tackler.

Time to give some much deserved credit to the Cienega Bobcats kicker, Senior Ezra Figueroa. Figueroa went a perfect 5/5 on PATs and a perfect 3/3 on FGs including a 40 yarder. Figueroa’s golden leg provided 14 points of scoring to Cienega’s offensive total. As a team that will try and make a deep playoff run in the 5A, having a kicker like this is absolutely clutch. When the games on the line, Ezra Figueroa has you covered.

Dropping to 5-3 on the season, the next two are must wins for the Tigers if they want to lock up a low seed in the 5A state playoffs. I’m a big fan of coach Louie Ramirez and his coaching staff, and I have no doubt in my mind that they will get that team prepared for their last two opponents. No better way to head into State with a winning streak of 2-0.

Any offense that tries to test Cienega’s defense, might become leave feeling pretty “ugly” with an unsatisfied result. This is a really disciplined group of players. The linebacking core made up of Senior Diego Rivas, Senior Jacob Acosta, and Senior Zach Mattas (also lines up on the D-line) is phenomenal. They’re all athletic, great form tacklers, and they fly to the football. Add that to a talented secondary group, and a couple quick edge rushers that can get to the QB, and you have a pretty rock solid defensive unit.

2022 Marana QB Treyson Bourguet 6’1 175

The best freshman QB I've seen play at the Varsity level this season. Treyson came in early in the 4th Q and played like a two year starter. He threw a 90 yard touchdown to Tariq Jordan and he later found his brother Trenton on a beautiful delayed post-corner, placing the ball perfectly in the back corner of the end zone.

“I’ll tell you what it is, it’s all weight room. We get our butts kicked everyday in there, we do the most. I feel like we have one of the best weight (training) programs in Arizona right now. Coach Steve he kicks our butt and it helps our line play a lot. They’re pushing people up the field and we get those long runs.” -Terrell Hayward on Cienega’s success in the trenches.