The rain fell and fell and the grass was wet but the air was sticky. The elements played a role in Sabino’s 42-20 victory over Coolidge Friday night but the final score is not indicative of the higher level of play the Sabercats had to achieve to get past the Bears and the team had to put it all together in one half of week one or the season might have been lost.

The Bears are expected to make some noise this year after barely missing the 3A playoffs the last two seasons and the Sabercats are expected to get back to the state contender they were until the COVID year got in the way. The monsoon shower at Sabino was not thick enough to disappoint – both teams are everything the experts said they were.

“Coach (Rodger) Schenks had them ready to go,” Sabino head coach Ryan McBrayer said. “So they came out, we came out, we both got punched him in the mouth a little bit. We knew our game plan was there. It was just about execution.”

Led by junior QB Cameron Hackworth, Sabino took a 7-0 lead five minutes in on a 47-yard strike to Shamar Berryhill and the Sabercats went up 13-0 a few seconds into the second quarter on a 51-yard toss from Hackworth to Jeremy Gigstad. Hackworth finished the night with an unofficial 227 yards passing with two TD passes and two running scores but Coolidge used special teams to take a 14-13 lead at the half.

Sabino had a 13-0 lead and the Sabercat defense had Coolidge stopped on a long fourth down a few plays later. A stop here and the game might have ended early but a bad snap over Gavin Gunter’s head turned disaster for Coolidge into opportunity as Gunter dodged in and out of the Sabino defenders to pick up a first down at midfield and that play set up a short run from Ethan Ramirez later in the drive to cut the Sabino lead down to 13-6 with 6:46 left in the first half.

The Sabercat offense stalled quickly and a 40-yard punt return put the Bears back in business and Ramirez hit Gunter from 16 yards out to give Coolidge a 14-13 lead after a 2-point conversion. Sabino was forced to punt again and a fumble stopped Coolidge from scoring again before the half ended.

Coolidge went into the locker room with the lead, knowing the team would get the ball to start the second half, but the Sabercats came out and stopped Coolidge on downs and the game changed back to Sabino’s favor.

“We were slipping and sliding but these guys came out of halftime. They knew all those plays were there and they started to hit him in the second half,” McBrayer added. “They started making plays and the guy that really stood out was Andres Baca, our running back. I don't know how many yards he had after contact, but it sure was a lot. He made all the difference in the world tonight.”

Hackworth scored from 1-yard out to make it 21-14 with a 2-point conversion with 2:12 left in the third and then Hackworth scored on a 10-yarard run to make it 28-14 with 10:05 left in the game. Coolidge put one more drive together to cut the lead down to 28-20 on another score from Ramirez but the last eight minutes belonged to Sabino.

Andres Baca ran the ball in from 32 yards out to make it 35-20 and then Berryhill returned an interception 45 yards to make it 42-20. Caleb Matlock ended the night with another interception for Sabino. Baca had 147 yards rushing on 19 attempts.

Coolidge (0-1) hosts Tempe (0-1) next Friday and it will be a perfect opportunity to even up the record with Tempe dropping a 24-6 contest to Shadow Mountain Friday night. Sabino (1-0) will travel to play ALA - West Foothills on Friday, Sept. 2. This is the first year for the Guardians and ALA – West Foothills will play at Pusch Ridge this Saturday to start the season off for both squads.

Sabino's Jack Skaggs gets ready to stop Maurice Glass. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)