Arizona

ALA West Foothills, Pusch Ridge in 3A final; Pima, Scottsdale Christian in 2A

Published

1 year ago

November 24, 2024

ALA West Foothills, Pusch Ridge in 3A final; Pima, Scottsdale Christian in 2A

With 18 of their 22 suspended players back for the 2A semifinals, the 12th-seeded Scottsdale Christian Eagles pulled the biggest upset of the small-school state football playoffs Saturday.

They avenged their season-opening loss to No. 1-seed Gilbert San Tan Charter with a 34-21 victory at Mesa Westwood High School.

Scottsdale Christian (9-4) will face No. 3 Pima (12-1), which stunned No. 2 Tonopah Valley 40-34 in the earlier semifinal on Saturday.

SCA and Pima will play next Saturday at Glendale Mountain Ridge High School at 2 p.m. It is a rematch of last year’s state championship game that Scottsdale Christian won 41-22. The teams met in Week 7 this year with Pima winning 20-17.

Scottsdale Christian had 22 players suspended for leaving the sideline in the final minute of its first-round upset of No. 5 Eloy Santa Cruz, after a fight broke out.

The Eagles were able to escape Phoenix Veritas Prep 26-24 with a depleted roster, before getting most of their players back for San Tan Charter, a powerful team led by Arizona State-bound Uriah Neloms, a wide receiver who played quarterback in his final high school season.

SCA quarterback Sean Helgeson passed for three touchdowns, including a 70-yarder to Lawson Lavallee that broke a 14-14 tie late in the third quarter. Midway through the final quarter, Caleb Randall, a top small-schools linebacker who added running back duties this season, scored on a 2-yard run to give the Eagles a 27-14 lead.

On STC’s ensuing possession, sophomore Caleb Murphy intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards for a score, sealing the win.

“This time we just concentrated on us,” SCA coach Mike Sheahan said. “We have had so much adversity the last couple of weeks and, honestly, all season, that we had to slow down and just do our thing.

“All attention was inward and the opponent just happened to be 12-0 and the No. 1 seed. These boys played for each other and the SCA community with heart.”

In the August loss to San Tan Charter (12-1), SCA was without its best player, Randall. He’s been a difference maker since returning from an injury that caused him to miss the first three games.

3A final set

The 3A football championship game is set between No. 2 ALA West Foothills of Waddell and No. 4 Tucson Pusch Ridge at 6 p.m., Saturday at Mountain Ridge. This is the American Leadership Academy school’s first trip to the championship in only its third year.

ALA West Foothills has been The Arizona Republic’s No. 1-ranked 3A team since preseason. Coach Chad Mitton’s team got past No. 3 Thatcher 34-22 in Saturday’s semifinal at Mesa High. But the Guardians will be without their best player, two-way star J.J. Brutus, who suffered a broken leg in the final quarter. Brutus, a running back/edge rusher, had two first-half rushing TDs. He also had a fumble recovery.

The Guardians (13-0) led by as much as 27-9, before Thatcher (10-3) scored two touchdowns to become the first team to score more than three touchdowns against ALA West Foothills this season.

Pusch Ridge (12-1) avenged its only loss this season to Benjamin Franklin Queen Creek with a 24-13 win.

Since losing to Benjamin Franklin 31-7 on Sept. 6, Pusch Ridge has reeled off 11 wins, giving up no more than two touchdowns in any of those games.

Pusch Ridge led 14-0, before Talan Speir scored on a 16-yard run with five minutes left in the third quarter to cut it to 14-7. In the final minute of the quarter, Pusch Ridge increased its lead to 21-7 on Blake Reed’s 4-yard scoring run.

After Benjamin Franklin (11-2) scored with a minute to play, Pusch Ridge recovered the on-side kick and ate up the remaining time.

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @azc_obert

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Arizona

Michigan defenseman Hunter Hady transfers to Arizona State

Published

5 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

Michigan defenseman Hunter Hady transfers to Arizona State

Former Michigan sophomore defenseman Hunter Hady has transferred to Arizona State, according to an announcement on the team Instagram. The 6’4’’ defenseman will join the Sun Devils for his junior year.

Hady played just two games on Michigan’s blue line this season against Harvard in November and against Bentley in the NCAA regional semifinal. He recorded a secondary assist on junior forward Garrett Schifsky’s goal in the Bentley game for his only point of the year.

Hady’s contributions were more substantive in his freshman season — though his point total remained the same. He played 32 games for Michigan as the team struggled to find defensive pairings that worked throughout the year. Hady was a reliable blue line presence who could be counted on to provide solid defense and not make significant errors.

Prior to playing for the Wolverines, Hady spent three seasons with the Chicago Steel of the USHL, where he played with current Michigan teammates senior defenseman Luca Fantilli, sophomore forward Michael Hage and junior forward Jayden Perron, among others. He joins an Arizona State team that lost ground in the NCHC this season and is looking to reach a Frozen Four for the second time in its program history.

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Arizona

Pilot Jessica Cox to be inducted into Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame

Published

18 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Pilot Jessica Cox to be inducted into Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Jessica Cox, the world’s first licensed armless airplane pilot and a leading advocate for disability-led innovation, will be inducted into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame on Friday, May 15, 2026. The induction ceremony, hosted by Rightfooted Foundation International in collaboration with the Pima Air & Space Museum, will take place at the museum from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Cox’s recognition honors both her historic achievement in flight and her ongoing work expanding access and opportunity for people without arms. Through her leadership at Rightfooted Foundation International (RFI), Cox has championed mentorship, education and practical innovations that help aspiring pilots and families reimagine what’s possible in aviation and beyond.

“Saying I’m proud of her can’t fully encompass what I feel,” said Patrick Chamberlain, Cox’s husband and RFI’s Inclusive Engineering Director. “Jessica’s induction into the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame recognizes both what she has accomplished and what she continues to do. She has helped shed light on the many pilots with disabilities in aviation and shown the world that disability does not mean inability.”

The 2026 induction class also honors two military aviators: Frank Schiel Jr., a Phoenix-born Flying Tigers veteran credited with seven enemy aircraft destroyed in World War II, and James K. Johnson, a Phoenix-born U.S. Air Force colonel and Korean War double ace credited with ten aerial victories.

The Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame, established in 1985 and housed in the Dorothy Finley Aerospace Gallery at Pima Air & Space Museum, pays tribute to Arizonans who have made significant contributions to aviation and aerospace history.

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Arizona

2026 NFL draft: 3 potential trades back from No. 3 for Arizona Cardinals

Published

1 day ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

2026 NFL draft: 3 potential trades back from No. 3 for Arizona Cardinals

Since the Arizona Cardinals want to trade back from the No. 3 picks, here are three deals that could work.

The Arizona Cardinals have the third pick in the 2026 NFL draft, which begins this week on Thursday. All the reports coming out are saying that they want to trade out of the pick to acquire more draft picks.

But what does a trade look like and who could be involved?

The Kansas City Chiefs are involved in talks at some level. ESPN’s Adam Schefter expects trade talks to heat up this week.

NFL teams use a variation of a trade value chart when it comes to draft picks. Now, what a team actually is willing to give up can be influenced by potential competition with other teams, but we can’t count on that.

Here is the general trade value chart teams use.

Here are some potential deals that could be done.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs have two first-round picks, which would be appealing to the Cardinals, who reportedly want to make a move for quarterback Ty Simpson, and the 29th pick might be just the spot to get him.

The third overall pick is worth 514 points.

The Chiefs’ picks at No. 9 (387 points) and No. 29 (202 points) together are worth 589.

To make up the difference, the Cardinals could give up No. 65 (78 points) for a total of 592 points.

One deal could be:

Cardinals receive get No. 9 and No. 29 (589 points)
Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 65 (592 points)

Another could be:

Cardinals receive No. 9, No. 29, No. 74 and 2027 third-round pick (653 points + value of future third-round pick, which is 36-78 points)
Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 34 (689 points)

The Cardinals keep their third-round pick and the Chiefs essentially move back five spots from No. 29.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys have the 12th and 20th picks but no pick in the second round.

Pick No. 12 is 347 points and No. 20 is 269 for a total of 616.

This deal is close:

Cardinals receive No. 12, No. 20 (616 points)
Cowboys receive No. 3, No. 65 (592 points)

New Orleans Saints

The Saints are perhaps a dark horse to move up, although they do not have two first-round picks. They have the No. 8 pick, worth 406 points. Their second-round pick, at No. 42, is worth 142 points.

This deal could work:

Cardinals receive No. 8, No. 42 (548 points)
Saints receive No. 3, No. 104 (547 points)

Then the Cardinals could use their two second-round picks to then move back into Round 1 to get Ty Simpson.

They could trade No. 34, No. 42 and No. 65 (395 points) for No. 28, No. 38 and No. 106 (398 total points).

Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.

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