Pair of first-half touchdowns for Jacobs more than enough for Sabercats
WEEKLY BLOG: 11/13/20
When the first set of Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) computerized rankings were released earlier this week, the Saguaro Sabercats were positioned way down at No. 17 overall and sixth in the 5A Conference. While most years, the first set of these lists lend plenty of time for changes, this year is an exception. There is only one more week remaining in the regular season.
Fortunately for those affiliated with the program known as SagU, there was a little caveat. Those rankings for the Open Division were for "informational purposes only" and there will be a committee within the AIA that will determine the teams and seedings for the top eight teams within the 6A, 5A, and 4A.
So, Saguaro made a statement for them with a suffocating defense in a 26-0 win at Horizon on Friday night. The Huskies were limited to just 47 yards of total offense (21 rushing) and never advanced the ball further than the Sabercats' 25-yard line.
"We've been really good defensively all year long," Saguaro head coach Jason Mohns said. "Proud of these guys. We've got to get the offensive effort to match the defensive effort. If we do, we can be a pretty good team."
Saguaro (4-1 overall, 2-0 5A East Region), didn't play last week after its opponent had to cancel due to COVID-19 cases on the team. The Sabercats started fast with a 30-yard touchdown pass from junior Ridge Docekal to Javen Jacobs.
"That was our screen play," Jacobs said. "As soon as I caught the ball, I was looking for my lineman. I just followed him and as soon as he got his block, I cut off and got to the end zone."
The score was the fifth of the year for Jacobs, also a junior. It wouldn't be his last either.
Horizon (3-2, 1-1) was off the past two Fridays as the team was forced to quarantine due to a COVID-19 outbreak. The team was able to resume practices last Friday, but was missing four starters (two on the offensive line) with players out due to illness. In all, the Huskies suited up about 35 players.
The first quarter ended with Horizon having a first down at the Saguaro 25-yard line. Unfortunately, the Huskies went backwards from there with junior Tristan Monday getting a pair of sacks.
Horizon had another chance on its next drive as the defense forced a three-and-out and a punt traveled just 13 yards. The Huskies started on the Saguaro 35, gained some ground, but a fourth-down sack by Quintin Somerville pushed HHS back to the 35.
"Presnap recognition was the biggest thing this week," Somerville, a Michigan-commit, said. "Going into the game, we kind of knew what they were running before they ran it."
Somerville said the defense had one player keying on the quarterback and another playing the running back expecting a pitch.
The shutout was the first that Horizon suffered since 2010 (vs. Chaparral). For Saguaro, it was the second time it has blanked an opponent in 2020.
The next time the Huskies had the ball, it was deep in their own end. On first down, quarterback Drew Boxwell gained about seven yards on a run, but fumbled. It was recovered by Taron Thomas.
Two other things happened on the play, and neither were good for the home team in Scottsdale. First, Boxwell was on the ground injured (knee). He watched the end of the game on crutches and Horizon head coach Ty Wisdom simply said his health situation was "not good". While this was happening, the Huskies' coaches were livid that the play was not ruled down as it appeared Boxwell's knee had touched the turf before the ball came out.
As a result of the protesting, an unsportsmanlike penalty was called on Horizon's coach moving the ball to point-blank range at the 12-yard line. Two plays later, Jacobs scored his second touchdown of the game to make it a 13-0 game at halftime (kick blocked).
"They're a phenomenal football team," Wisdom said. "You can't give them anything. Our defense played their tails off and special teams were solid."
Jacobs starred again as the second half began taking the kickoff back to the Horizon 40-yard line. A pair of false start penalties backed the Sabercats up to midfield. On first down, Docekal threw a deep pass to senior Mason Davies on the left sideline. Davies hauled it in and took it in the end zone for a 19-0 lead (kick failed).
"Ridge did some really good things," Mohns said. "Threw some great balls. The more experience he gets, the better he's going to be."
This season, the Sabercats have been playing a combination of Docekal and Xander Werner at quarterback. Werner was in the game for a series, but limped off the field with a foot injury. He was kept out of the second half as a precaution.
Horizon did get second half interceptions from seniors Landon Mumford and Ryan Peplinski, but the offense couldn't turn them into points. Horizon has been a running offense most of the season (290 yards average entering the game). A combination of quarterback runs and pitch plays were mostly swallowed up by the Sabercat front seven. Horizon's QBs completed 5-of-11 passes for 26 yards.
Saguaro is deep at running back and gave at least five carries to four different backs. In the fourth quarter, senior Lucas Meridith did most of the work on a 40-yard drive for the Sabercats' final drive. He also punched it in from three yards out to close the scoring.
One area of concern for the Sabercats going forward is penalties. SHS was flagged 14 times for 133 yards. Some were personal fouls on dead ball situations.
"We're not a very disciplined team," Mohns said. "We can live with effort penalties, where you're playing hard. But, when you're running your mouth, there's no excuse for that."
Horizon had eight penalties for 67 yards.
This was a rematch of last year's Open Division quarterfinal, which was also won by Saguaro. Wisdom praised the effort of his players in his program, which rarely receives transferred players.
"I'm proud of the kids for how hard they played," Wisdom said. "These kids are neighborhood kids that just come to work every day."
The Huskies will likely have to turn to backup Skyler Partridge for the start in next week's regular season finale at home against Notre Dame (3-2). A victory there could get the Huskies into the eight-team 5A Conference playoffs.
Wisdom said Partridge has run this offense at the lower levels for three years. He has also seen improvement in his club since a loss in the opening week against Pinnacle.
"We know that if we can get in the 5A (playoffs)," Wisdom said. "Then we're going to give somebody a run for it."
As per the information in the AIA rankings, the conference playoffs are going to be determined by power rankings. The committee will only be used for the Open Division. It's a plan that Mohns doesn't agree with as this season has been unique with schools playing different amounts of games and looking for opponents at the last minute, sometimes in different conferences.
"Sooner or later, the AIA has to figure out their rankings aren't very good," Mohns said. "It usually takes the formula all 10 weeks (to level out). This year, we have a smaller sample size."
Saguaro will end its regular season next Friday playing just its second home game against Gilbert (3-4) in South Scottsdale.
First Quarter:
Sag - Javen Jacobs 8 yard pass from Ridge Docekal (Michael Ortiz kick), 5:19
Second Quarter:
Sag - Jacobs 12 yard run (kick blocked), 3:42
Third Quarter:
Sag - Mason Davies 50 yard pass from Docekal (kick failed), 11:32
Fourth Quarter:
Sag - Lucas Meridith 3 yard run (Ortiz kick), 2:33
