Niall Rosenberg is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Corona Del Sol High School for AZPreps365.com.

 

The Corona Del Sol Aztecs flag football was down three at the 5-yard line, with 1:06 left on the clock, when quarterback Bridget Leyva rolled right and threw an interception, and the Aztecs lost 3-0 to Tucson High Magnet School. 

The classic Tempe versus Tucson matchup on October 17 was not Arizona State University versus the University of Arizona; it was Corona Del Sol High School versus Tucson High Magnet School. 

The Corona Del Sol Aztecs came into this game after losing its last five to Mesa, Mountain Ridge, Shadow Ridge, Casteel and Millennium, scoring a combined 18 points while giving up 156.

After losing to Tucson, head coach LaCette Tirado-Holt pointed out first-half struggles as a large cause of the losing streak. 

“We need to come together as a team, focus starting out strong, not waiting to the second half to come out strong,” Tirado-Holt said. “Momentum in the first half is going to be really important.” 

The Aztecs were held to zero points for the third time this season. The offense struggled to get the ball moving as three of the nine drives ended in punts, three ended in turnover on downs and the other three ended in turnovers. 

Junior Alana James was the starting quarterback for the Aztecs before she got injured in the 49-0 loss against Mountain Ridge. The Aztecs tried out two quarterbacks throughout the game versus Tucson, including senior Bryce Watson and junior Leyva.

The absence of James affected the team offensively, according to senior Miquela Tammaro. 

“It’s definitely been tough because she was our starting QB, and it just limits us offensively,” Tammaro said. “Bridget is an amazing receiver and sometimes she has to go out there and play QB, and so does Bryce.” 

With the offense limited, according to Tammaro, the defense stepped up against Tucson, creating a no-fly zone with three interceptions and only allowing eight completions. 

The ball hawk behind the interceptions was freshman Sofia Villone, who had all three on the night. This, combined with her 11 throughout the season, puts her at 14 and tied for the state lead, according to MaxPreps. 

Villone said she watches the quarterback and causes her to be able to make the interceptions. 

“I make sure that I don’t have anybody that goes behind me,” Villone said. “If the quarterback takes a good look at the person, I look who she is throwing to, and I just go to the ball and get it.” 

For the Aztecs, the season could not get any easier with three out of the next four games against teams with winning records, Sunnyslope (6-2), Marana (6-1) and Desert Vista (4-2). The other game is against Xavier Prep with a 2-4 record.

Preparing for the final stretch of the season, the offense could be the main place for the Aztecs to look as they have been shut out three times this season.

Quarterback Leyva, who came on in the second half for Watson, counts encouragement and energy are what’s needed to bounce back.

“Helping the team and encouraging them to keep going and show the same effort that they show in practice in the games,” Leyva said. “We got to keep our energy up.”

Tammaro is looking for that and more execution from both sides of the ball, even with the injuries. 

“Our execution definitely needs a little bit of work, but at the same time, we’re working with new people,” Tammaro said. “We have people out. We’re just trying to make sure we can get what we work on in practice in our games.”