The race for the 3A South Region might not be decided until someone with an expensive calculator sits down after the last game of the regular season to figure out the pecking order between Pusch Ridge, Sabino and Thatcher but does it really matter?

All three programs are safe bets for the state playoffs, along with Safford, but bragging rights are bragging rights and a region championship plaque would look nice hanging on a wall somewhere. Deciding which program will get the automatic playoff berth from the region became an issue thanks to a 41-14 win by No. 8 Pusch Ridge (7-2 overall, 3-1 in region play) over No. 9 Thatcher (6-3, 2-1) at home Friday night, coupled with a 49-14 win by No. 10 Sabino (6-2, 2-1) over No. 11 Safford (6-3, 1-2).

The actual rankings are sure to change come Tuesday afternoon when the latest AIA power rankings are scheduled to be released but none of the four programs are in real danger of dropping out of the postseason. So, here are the scenarios:

Pusch Ridge is done with region play but Sabino visits Sahuarita next week and Thatcher plays Safford. If Sabino wins and Safford wins then the Sabercats are the region champions. But, if Sabino and Thatcher wins, then Pusch Ridge, Sabino and Thatcher will each finish 3-1 in region play with the first icebreaker being head-to-head but Sabino beat Pusch Ridge and Pusch Ridge beat Thatcher and Thatcher beat Sabino so that won’t work.

The second tiebreaker is power ranking and that won’t be decided until someone pulls out that calculator and the teams will find out the answer when the brackets are released. If by some bizarre tie in ranking, then conference win percentage comes next and then overall win percentage. The last resort would be a coin flip, but only for seeding.

Thatcher QB Wyatt Larson and RB Cody Jones. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

Sabino sophomore QB Cameron Hackworth came up big for the Sabercats in their win Friday night and Pusch Ridge senior QB Ryan Fontaine did the same for the Lions.

Unofficially, Fontaine finished with 165 yards passing on 16 of 17 attempts including a 26-yard TD pass to Bryce Jewell. Fontaine also finished with 122 yards rushing on 12 carries with scoring runs of 3, 9, 34 and 25 yards to finish with a total of 287 yards of offense. Sr. RB Javier Grajeda added 41 yards rushing with a 15-yard scoring run and Brysen Barrios had 53 yards on the ground. Bubba Mustain pulled in 65 yards through the air and Jewell had 58.

“The whole team just stepped up tonight and we knew what we had to get done,” Fontaine explained. “We wanted to stay as those in the 3A South race and, you know, we'll see how the rankings work out and I really hope that is the, that is the case.”

The Lions blew out to a 21-0 lead but gave up a touchdown with 56.2 seconds left for a 21-7 lead at the half. The second half was a repeat with Pusch Ridge scoring three TDs in a row before Thatcher added one in the final moments of the game for the 41-14 final. The Lion defense was the key.

The Thatcher passing game was limited to 63 yards passing on the night and the team was held to 158 yards rushing. The passing yards were similar in the Thatcher victory over Sabino earlier in the eyar but the Eagles torched the Sabercat defense with 398 yards rushing with 5 TDs.

“Our passing game and our rushing game, everything was clicking,” Fontaine added. “Maybe we stalled on some drives so we must keep it going, just keep the foot on the neck and just keep driving.”

Pusch Ridge travels to No. 21 AZ College Prep (5-4) next week to close out the regular season and Thatcher finishes with the big rivalry game with Safford. The 3A first round is slated for Friday, Nov. 5.