2023 High School Football

4A Championship: No. 2 Canyon del Oro vs. No. 1 Yuma Catholic

Kayden Luke of Canyon del Oro is the first Dorado running back to eclipse 2,000 yards in a season since Ka’Deem Carey in 2009 (2,738 yards on 224 carries with 42 touchdowns). Luke is at 2,086 yards on 253 rushes with 27 touchdowns. (Lexie Fegan/Special to AllSportsTucson.com)

No. 2 Canyon del Oro (13-0) vs. No. 1 Yuma Catholic (13-0)

Date: Friday

Site: ASU’s Mountain America Stadium

Kickoff: 4 p.m.

Stream: NFHS Network (only available live stream)

CDO coach: Dustin Peace(118-50, 15th year overall and at CDO). Won state championship in 2009.

Yuma Catholic coach: Rhett Stallworth(179-45, 18th year overall; 165-28, 15th year at Yuma Catholic). Won state championships in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

CDO state championships:1976 (AA), 1977 (AA) and 2009 (4A).

Yuma Catholic state championships:2011 (Div. V), 2013 (Div. V) and 2014 (Div. V).

When Canyon del Oro has the ball:

Run percentage:78.1 percent (460 rushes)

Pass percentage:21.9 percent (129 passes)

CDO is a predominantly running team behind 2,086 yards on 253 carries with 27 touchdowns by Kayden Luke, a 5-foot-10 and 220-pound senior, but the Dorados will pass the ball occasionally to keep the defense honest. … QB Tristen McClellandhas completed 61 of 127 pass attempts for 1,052 yards with 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Nearly 25 percent of his completions have been for touchdowns. … McClelland’s primary targets are WR Chance Cassel(18 receptions for 312 yards and five touchdowns) and TE Ryan Madsen(14 receptions for 318 yards and six touchdowns). … Backup RB Joe Albahas returned two weeks ago from a leg injury and has gained 350 yards on 52 carries with eight touchdowns. Adrian Davidson(238 yards rushing) and ViJay King(217) are capable senior rushers.

Yuma Catholic junior LB Rocky Stallworth, the coach’s son, leads all of 4A with 148 tackles. He has six tackles for loss and … Oregon commit Jaxson Jones, a senior defensive end, has 17 tackles for loss among his 46 tackles. He leads the Shamrocks with nine sacks. … DE Trenton Blomquisthas 50 tackles, 11 for loss, and six sacks. … Yuma Catholic has two other defenders with at least 100 tackles — sophomore LB Shaun Carter(129) and senior LB Dagen Dunn(112). … Junior CB Sir Stokes, who is 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, has seven of Yuma’s 19 interceptions.

When Yuma Catholic has the ball:

Run percentage:51.0 percent (293 rushes)

Pass percentage:49.0 percent (281 passes)

Yuma Catholic’s offense is more balanced than past years when coach Rhett Stallworth’sson Richard Stallworthestablished himself as the state’s top career passer with 12,590 yards from 2020-22. The Shamrocks are still flinging it with sophomore QB Nash Ottaccumulating 2,801 yards on 189 of 276 attempts with 32 touchdowns and six interceptions. But Yuma Catholic is also a threat running the ball with senior RB Tayt Fordgaining 1,397 yards on 177 carries with 17 touchdowns. He carries the ball 60 percent of the time when Yuma Catholic decides to run. … The Shamrocks’ receiving corps has six players with at least 200 yards receiving, led by junior WR Sir Stokes’903 yards on 43 catches with 10 touchdowns. WR Darryl Coleman, another junior, has 11 touchdown receptions to go with his 635 yards on 40 receptions.

CDO’s defense has not allowed more than 21 points in a game all season until it took AZ College Prep four overtimes to reach 27 points in the Dorados’ 33-27 win in the quarterfinals two weeks ago. In six of its 13 games, the opponent has not scored more than a touchdown. … Last week, CDO held Mica Mountain to a season-low seven points and 27 yards rushing. DE Evan Greerhad three tackles for loss and two sacks, including a strip-sack that led to a touchdown. … The Dorados’ defense has quality depth with six players with at least 45 tackles — LB Kayden Lukewith 62, FS Chase Lauxwith 61, Greer with 57, CB Izaiah Lucerowith 55, LB Stayton Brookswith 49 and LB Grant Young(45). … Greer, a junior, has a phenomenal 30.5 tackles for loss, including 13 sacks. That means about 53.5 percent of his tackles occur behind the line. … Young has eight sacks. … Laux leads the state with eight interceptions, including two in the postseason. … The Dorados have 16 picks as a team. … CDO has 114.5 tackles for loss and 38 sacks.

Series record

First meeting between the programs.

Schedules

Red denotes common opponents

2. CANYON DEL ORO (13-0)

Head coach: Dustin Peace
Dorados compete in the 4A Kino. Bold are playoff games. Championship 12/1 starts at 4 p.m. at ASU.
Date Opponent W/L CDO Opp
8/25
Eastmark W 21 14
9/1
at Bradshaw Mountain W 42 7
9/8
Desert View W 50 20
9/15
at Amphi W 41 0
9/22
at Marana W 49 21
10/6
at Catalina Foothills W 50 14
10/13
Mica Mountain W 17 15
10/20
at Pueblo W 46 7
10/27
Sahuaro W 42 0
11/3
Walden Grove W 21 9
11/9
Poston Butte W 45 20
11/17
AZ College Prep W (4OT) 33 27
11/24
Mica Mountain W 23 7
12/1
Yuma Catholic

1. YUMA CATHOLIC (13-0)

Head coach: Rhett Stallworth
Shamrocks compete in the 4A West Valley. Bold are playoff games. Championship 12/1 starts at 4 p.m. at ASU.
Date Opponent W/L CDO Opp
8/25
at Marcos de Niza W 56 28
9/1
at Catalina Foothills W 37 20
9/8
at Palma (CA) W 14 0
9/15
Thatcher W 42 20
9/22
AZ College Prep W 22 17
9/29
at St. Mary's W 31 0
10/6
Thunderbird W 24 7
10/13
at Buckeye Union W 45 17
10/27
Lake Havasu W 41 17
11/3
at NW Christian W 24 10
11/9
Peoria W 40 6
11/17
Eastmark W 28 13
11/24
Arcadia W 42 7
12/1
CDO

Canyon del Oro Interviews

CDO COACH DUSTIN PEACE

CDO CENTER MORGAN NARCAROTI

CDO WR/CB AUSTIN GREER

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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living” , which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District

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