After suffering a 58-7 loss at Higley High School on Friday, Aug. 25, the Mingus Union High School football team saw a number of things to improve upon.
The Marauders [0-1] struggled in a number of facets of the game, and a lot of their problems stemmed from being overmatched in the trenches.
“We got dominated on the line of scrimmage, we’ve got our work cut out for us,” head coach Bob Young said. “I think our offensive and defensive lines got manhandled, so they’ve got to improve.”
Mingus junior quarterback Antoine Zabala completed seven of 20 pass attempts for 106 yards and one interception. Zabala, making his first varsity start, finished with -29 yards rushing on 10 carries, and was sacked 9.5 times.
However when he was afforded time, Young saw good things.
“It was a typical first game. Especially when he threw the ball and went through his progressions, he did a nice job,” Young said. “Then the protection started to break down, but he’s got a lot of good things going for him.”
Thirty-one carries shared between eight different players netted a total of three rushing yards. Mingus earned only seven first downs while running just three less total plays than Higley, who racked up 276 yards through the air and 216 on the ground.
The inexperienced Marauders linemen only had one day of scrimmages at full speed heading into the season opener. After the heavy loss, Young said that they are taking the appropriate steps to get better.
“I think it was eye opening for us,” Young said. “After watching film they see what they need to be doing to get better and that’s all we can ask for.”
Opposite Zabala was Knights junior quarterback Spencer Brasch, who was 14 of 20 for 266 yards and five scores.
Higley, a semifinalist in the 2016 Conference 4A playoffs, also touted senior running back Draycen Hall
Hall led the state in rushing last year, earning himself 2016 Gatorade Arizona State Player of the Year honors.
He averaged 5.9 yards per carry, finishing with 71 yards on 12 rushes. His first touchdown opened the scoring, a 28-yard run up straight through the middle of the Marauders defense. Before last season he was a receiver, and also caught three balls for 103 yards, more than half coming on one play, a 56-yard grab.
Five of the Knights’ touchdowns came on plays of 20 yards or greater.
“They’re a big play team and that’s what they thrive off of. It’s hard to shut everything down,” Young said. “We talked about eliminating big plays, but it’s one thing to talk about it and another to do it.”
There were bright spots for Mingus, in the form of senior Tyler Kelly and junior Chaz Taylor. Kelly provided the team’s only score, in the second quarter, on a 96-yard kickoff return. He finished with 228 return yards.
Taylor led with five catches for 92 yards as well as 10 tackles, four solo and six assisted, and an interception.
“[Taylor] played well on both sides of the ball,” Young said. “It looks like he’s going to turn into our big play receiver. Him and Tyler Kelly, his returns kept us in the game.”
Mingus makes its 2017 home debut at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1 against Cactus Shadows High School. Cactus Shadows, also a state qualifier a year ago, is another physical team, according to Young.
“We have a lot to work on and these guys understand that. It was something we knew that our schedule wasn’t going to be easy.”
