Mingus Union High School football is poised to continue the success that has become its annual tradition, once again with a group of players who have little varsity experience.
The Mingus football team graduated 20 seniors last season after a 7-3 record and a berth in the state playoffs where it beat Coolidge High School 17-14 before losing to eventual Division IV state champion Seton Catholic High School.
But not to worry. In addition to its winning tradition, Mingus football also has a tradition of “next man up,” and long-time head coach Bob Young said he likes what he is seeing so far from this year’s team.
“It’s early, but we’re real encouraged with the progress,” Young said. “I think our defense right now is the strength of our team — they’ve got the most experience — and our offense is getting a little bit better every day.”
“Our goal, as always, is to get 1 percent better every day.”
This season, the Arizona Interscholastic Association has bumped Mingus Union up one level — from Division IV to Division III — which will bump up the level of competition they face as well.
“Our schedule is very tough,” Young said. “We open with Snowflake, who is one of the best Division IV teams, and we play Cactus, who should be top five in Division III, and Paradise Valley who’s ranked in division II — so non-conference we play a really tough schedule and in our region Prescott should be ranked, Flagstaff, Bradshaw Mountain — we’ve got a lot of tough games.”
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Aug. 28, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
