Blayze Brown helps raise the trophy. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

By the numbers

Thatcher picked up championship number eight (1986, 1988, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2016 and 2017) on Saturday.  All titles came in the 2A class or conference. The 13 wins by the Eagles tied for the most ever in a season for the program with the 1998 squad. Jim Hughes led that team to a 13-0 record.

Santa Cruz has seven state titles (1965, 1966, 1969, 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1990). The Dust Devils have produced two NFL first round draft picks (Mossy Cade and Levi Jones) and three other NFL selections (Art Malone, Ben Malone and Eddie Cade).

 

This was for Blayze

Only 10, Blayze Brown suffers from a rare form of epilepsy with seizures ranging from “absence seizures” to “atonic seizures.” He loses part of his short-term memory every time he has an attack and he was first diagnosed with this rare form when he was five.

Blayze was in need of a service dog and the Thatcher program helped raise enough funds to provide him with his potentially life-saving friend.  Blayze wore a jersey in the championship, helped with the coin toss and stood in line to get a photo with the championship trophy.

 

Davis: from one to 12

Rishard Davis completed his fourth year at Santa Cruz, taking over a 1-9 squad in 2014 and producing a 12-1 program in 2017. He was an assistant coach at Pusch Ridge prior to his arrival in Eloy.

“All my teams are special,” Davis said. “I feel like I let them down, but this team never gave up and they always had fight in them.”

 

Hinton: back-to-back all over again

Sean Hinton is 25-3 with two state championships as the head coach of the Eagles and he led the program to back-to-back championships in 2000 and 2001 as a running back before following in his grandfather’s footsteps as a running back at ASU.