While Mingus Union High School said farewell to half of its 12 all-section players Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Verde Valley Fairgrounds after a title-winning season, the majority of all-section honorees at Camp Verde High School will return next season to challenge for a title of their own.
“Our entire starting offensive and defensive line comes back,” head coach Steve Darby said. “We don’t lose anybody.”
Six of the 10 Cowboys who were named honorable mention or first- or second-team all-Divison V, Section III, will, in fact, be back to challenge new competition for the title of a new section next season.
“We were a little bit more successful this year than last year,” Darby said. “We’re hoping we continue that trend.”
One of those who can’t is senior Jayson Leonard, headed on to a likely football career at an NAIA college in Kansas or Nebraska after finishing fourth in Section III rushing the football with 756 yards.
“I didn’t know I was going to get any awards, so I was happy,” he said. “I was just playing to play. It was my first year.”
Starting quarterback Payton Sarkesian, second in the section in total offense and 10th in the division overall with 1,344 yards passing, was named second team all-section as a sophomore.
“I knew I was going to do really good because the whole year I was ranked really high,” he said. “I was just really excited, because I’m a sophomore and I’ve got so much room to grow and show what I’m capable of.”
Also disappointed was sophomore Ryan Loza, who felt he should have received second-team honors at linebacker instead of just honorable mention.
Darby felt both Loza and sophomore punter Miguel Salas should’ve been placed higher. Salas was named second-team all-section as a defensive lineman and as a punter, averaging nearly 41 yards per punt in just five games as a midseason replacement for sophomore linebacker Kevin Oothoudt.
“If you went just off of stats, [Salas] was the No. 2 punter in the state out of 52 teams,” Darby said. “Yet we couldn’t even make first team in our own section. We lost to a guy who was several yards shorter, on average.”
For all Camp Verde High School all-section football honorees, please see the Wednesday, Dec. 16, issue of the Camp Verde Journal. For all Mingus Union High School honorees, please see the Wednesday, Dec. 9, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
