The soccer balls are being pumped, the basketballs are being shot and the wrestling mats are being rolled out, meaning the fall season for high school sports has officially come to end.
The Marauders’ fall athletes proved how unyielding teams at Mingus Union High School are.
Football
The Marauders football team ended the 2012 regular season with a 7-3 record and a trip to the Division IV state playoffs as the No. 6 seed. It won its first playoff game at home with a come-from-behind win over No. 7-seeded Coolidge Bears. Tyler Herndon scored the winning touchdown, winning 17-14.
That advanced the Marauders to the quarterfinals where they were beat by No. 3-seeded Seton Catholic, 28-21, at Apollo High School in Glendale on Saturday, Nov. 10.
Seniors Herndon and Alex Brewer, and junior Dakota Hanks scored the three MUHS touchdowns while the defense recorded five sacks. Quarterback Luke Simmons was 15 for 22 for 240 yards and a touchdown. He passed for 1,394 total yards for the season. Herndon rushed for a total of 948 yards while Hanks rushed for 711 yards this season.
Volleyball
The volleyball team ended its regular season 13-6 with a big 3-2 win over the Division IV state champions the Sedona Red Rock High School Scorpions, earning a trip to the Division III state playoffs as the No. 10 seed.
The Marauders beat No. 7-seeded Catalina 3-2 and faced Tuba City, the eventual 2012 Division III state champions, in the quarterfinals.
“We played very well in the game against Catalina, and we stuck to our game plan and were able to squeeze out the win,” said Brian Herman, head MUHS volleyball coach. “Tuba City was just too good. We were also pretty exhausted from the five-game win over Catalina, and I don’t think we had enough recoup time. We knew that Tuba’s defense would either win it for them or our unforced errors would lose it for us, and both scenarios came into play. We played really well but just could not get it done.”
The Marauders lost 3-1, but was the only team to take a game from Tuba City at state.
“We started the season pretty rough, but as the season progressed we got better and better each match and had some huge wins,” Herman said. “I am proud of our girls, and grateful that they stuck with me and each other though a rough start to the season and finished every match fighting to the very end.”
Cross-Country
The cross-country girls placed second as a team out of 18 at state after impressive runs at
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Nov. 14, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
