(Arcadia/Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

TEMPE - Mica Mountain fell out of the top ten and then crawled back in, entering the 4A state championship bracket ranked No. 7. That’s what happens when you start the season out with a 2-2 record with the two victories coming against opponents that finished a combined 3-17 on the year. The loss of over 30 seniors from the championship season of 2024 had half of the pundits believing 2025 would be a rebuilding year, while the other half had the Thunderbolts ranked near the top in the preseason. It turns out both were right because, in the end, the Thunderbolts beat top-seeded Arcadia 42-17 on Friday to complete a repeat, the likes of which hadn’t been done by a “big school” program from Southern Arizona since the 1970s.

Legendary head coach Jay Campos took to the field once again this past summer with the retirement of Pat Nugent, who stepped away after the first championship season for the team from Vail. Campos, the son of a football coach who grew up in Clifton (Eddie Campos), with all the small-town lessons of ethical hard work one would expect, led Sabino to four state championship appearances in an 11-year span between 2005 and 2016 before moving into administration. He went up against powerhouse programs like Cactus (14-0), Saguaro (13-1), Canyon del Oro (14-0) and ALA-Queen Creek (13-1) and he came up empty each time on paper but not where it really mattered – the lives of the 100s of young men he touched.

This time, like each time before, Campos went up against another powerhouse in Arcadia. The Titans came in with a 13-0 record, and 35-3 over the last three seasons, and current head coach BJ Pasquel had a lot to do with the recent success. Pasquel was the offensive coordinator in the two seasons before he took over the top job this fall and the Titans are expected to be in the running again next year under his proven leadership.

Being the top seed has not been a blessing this year with only Hayden carrying that weight through to a state championship at the 1A level and the Lobos were the only undefeated team this year at 12-0. Still, the Titans came in favored and that’s how the game started until senior defensive end Sergio Raygada batted up a pass at the Titan 6-yard line before pulling it in for an easy score to take a 14-7 lead on Arcadia with 2:01 left in the first quarter. That play shifted momentum to east side of Mountain America Stadium and it stayed there the rest of the way except for a brief moment when the Titans were staging a comeback.

The Thunderbolts struggled early and the Titans took full advantage with Sr. QB Zach Smith connecting with Sr. Ryan Jimenez from 10 yards out to go up 7-0 with 5:59 left in the opening quarter. Mica Mountain came right back with Sr. QB Jaidyn Crist hitting Sr. Evan Wheeler from 29 yards to tie the game at 7-7 with 2:08 left in the first.

Sr. Caleb Young hit a 36-yard field goal to cut the Thunderbolt lead down to 14-10 with 8:34 left in the half but Wheeler caught a 63-yard pass from Crist to make it 21-10 with 5:46 left. The Titans came alive when Smith hit Sr. Grayson McIntosh for 27 yards out to cut the lead down to 21-17 with 2:49 left but a 99-yard kickoff return from Sr. Riley Carson 19 seconds later put the Thunderbolts back up 28-17. The Titans put together a long time-consuming drive to start the second half but a fumble gave the Thunderbolts the ball back again and Crist responded with a 96 yard pass to Wheeler to make it 35-17 with 2:49 left in the third. Crist put the game away on a short run with 10:36 left in the game for the 42-17.

Crist finished with 264 yards passing (9-13) with three touchdowns, Colin Axford rushed for 102 yards on 12 carries, Wheeler pulled in 194 yards receiving on four catches and Blake Beltz had 11 tackles for Mica Mountain. Smtih finished with 204 yards passing (18-29-1) with two TDs, Jimenez rushed for 122 yards on 28 carries, Ian Slater had 92 yards receiving on eight catches and Jax Ashley had six tackles.

Wheeler was named offensive MVP and Raygada was the defensive MVP. Mica Mountain loses 25 seniors and Arcadia graduates 27 but that kind of loss doesn’t appear to be a factor anymore.

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