Top stories
Sabino High School Rivalry with Sahuaro
USINFO | 2014-01-07 13:34
Sabino first beat Sahuaro in football in 1978, 35-7, mainly due to the dual-100+ yard rushing attack of Dion Toumey and Joe Gartrell. From that point on, Sabino and Sahuaro were bitter rivals.
During Sabino's decade of dominance the Sabercats renewed their rivalry with east side neighbor Sahuaro High School. The Cougars of Sahuaro were one of the best teams in the 4A class year in and out, even winning the state championship in 1994. In 1996 the game was moved to the Thursday before opening day. Labeled "The Desert Kickoff Classic", it was the first Arizona varsity game played every year, and regularly drew the largest regular season crowd of the year.
In 1997 Sabino steamrolled their way into the state quarterfinals with a 12–0 record.Sahuaro on the other hand had to claw their way to the quarterfinals, making it there with an 8–4 record. The two teams met on a late October Friday night at standing-room-only Rincon High School. Earlier in the year Sabino clobbered the Cougars 38–7, adding even more hype on the biggest quarterfinal game Tucson had ever hosted. The Cougars came out quickly building a 14–0 lead, but Sabino came back to tie the game at half 28–28. In the third quarter Sabino's first play from scrimmage resulted in a 75 yard touchdown run, putting the Sabercats up 35–28. Sahuaro fought back to tie it once more at 35, but eventually ran out of steam in the 4th quarter losing 49–35 at the end.
During Sabino's decade of dominance the Sabercats renewed their rivalry with east side neighbor Sahuaro High School. The Cougars of Sahuaro were one of the best teams in the 4A class year in and out, even winning the state championship in 1994. In 1996 the game was moved to the Thursday before opening day. Labeled "The Desert Kickoff Classic", it was the first Arizona varsity game played every year, and regularly drew the largest regular season crowd of the year.
In 1997 Sabino steamrolled their way into the state quarterfinals with a 12–0 record.Sahuaro on the other hand had to claw their way to the quarterfinals, making it there with an 8–4 record. The two teams met on a late October Friday night at standing-room-only Rincon High School. Earlier in the year Sabino clobbered the Cougars 38–7, adding even more hype on the biggest quarterfinal game Tucson had ever hosted. The Cougars came out quickly building a 14–0 lead, but Sabino came back to tie the game at half 28–28. In the third quarter Sabino's first play from scrimmage resulted in a 75 yard touchdown run, putting the Sabercats up 35–28. Sahuaro fought back to tie it once more at 35, but eventually ran out of steam in the 4th quarter losing 49–35 at the end.
