D-I FB quick hitters: Five schools move to 2-0

August 29, 2015 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Highland and Mesa High were supposed to play a barn burner Friday night. Turned out Mesa was stuck in the barn while it burned.

After playing four times in the last four years with each game decided by a 10 points or less, Highland pulled off a 34-7 rout to move to 2-0. A 21-point Highland first quarter was Mesa's undoing. Junior standout Tyler Johnson scored two touchdowns for the Hawks -- one rushing and one receiving.

Also moving to 2-0 was Mesa Mountain View as the Toros rallied from a 24-14 deficit in the final quarter to beat Dobson, 31-24. A big night for Mountain View QB Tristan Askan and wide out Mata'ava Ta'ase. They connected three times on scoring passes 64, 11 and 69 yards. The last one gave Mountain View its only lead and was the game-winner. It's been all or nothing early in the season for Mountain View the last five years with Chad DeGrenier at the helm. Mountain View has started 0-2 three times and 2-0 twice since DeGrenier took over in 2011.

Highland, Mountain and Perry weren't in most folks preseason top 10, but have opened the season at 2-0. Perry joined the other two with a 34-20 win over Mesquite as Perry coach Preston Jones knocked off his dad, Jim Jones team in the first-ever meeting between father and son as head coaches.

Youth is being served at Perry early on. Sophomore running back Cutter Hatch scored twice, freshman wide out D'Shane James passed for one TD and brother and junior Nate James caught two TD passes. Sophomore quarterback Brock Purdy passed for one score and finally a senior -- QB Gabe Tomaszewski--  threw for two TDs.

Perry and Mountain View collide on Sept. 4 at Mountain View while Highland tries its luck at home against unbeaten Hamilton (2-0). Five D-I schools are 2-0 to date -- Basha, Perry, Mountain View, Highland and Hamilton. Chandler, Brophy and Mountain Pointe hope to join that group after their games Saturday vs out-of-state opponents.

Basha had another night of big offensive plays in its 42-23 win over Cienega with junior quarterback Ryan Kelley tossing two TD passes, senior wide out Hunter Dean Gibson catching one of those and returning a punt for another. Junior running back sealed the outcome with a pair of 50-yard-plus TD runs in fourth quarter.

Hamilton notched its second win with a second triumph over a D-II foe. Last week it was Ironwood Ridge. Friday night it was a 31-14 win over Queen Creek. Senior QB Tyler Lockhart fired a pair of TD passes and sophomore running back Jawhar Jordan broke another long TD run to cap the Huskies scoring in the final period. Game was tight for three quarters, but Hamilton's defense was too much for the Bulldogs.

Tag. You're it, Chandler High.

Chandler's sister schools put the onus on the Wolves Friday night  as each of Hamilton, Perry and Basha improved to 2-0 with wins over Queen Creek (31-14), Mesquite and Cienega, respectively. All Chandler need do Saturday night is dispose of Bishop Gorman and for the second time since four Chandler schools have played varsity football (since 2008) all four programs will have started the season 2-0. The other year it happened was 2011. This would be the first time with all four schools competing in D-I.