Cienega & Empire Football miss playoffs
At press time, Cienega came up with a huge win when the Bobcats defeated Tucson 10-7 on Oct. 16. The win may not have completely salvaged a difficult year for Cienega, but it certainly threw the Division II race wide open.
Tucson was 6-1 at the time and ranked in the top 10 and Cienega was only 1-6. Jacob Hackett made a field goal from 42-yards out to win the game with 37 seconds left on the clock.
Aaron Sauls scored on a 96-yard run on the first play from scrimmage to pace Cienega to an early 7-0 lead. It was a lead the Bobcats would hold until Tucson quarterback Jorge Flores hit Daquavin Bennett on a 10-yard reception heading into the fourth quarter.
Tucson went on to lose to Salpointe 34-28 and Cienega defeated Buena 43-22.
Empire had a shot at their section title as late as nine games into their season, but a huge 50-13 victory over Douglas at home was followed by a 71-43 loss at Pueblo.
Though we will miss the last game due to time constraints, the Ravens should finish the year 5-5 but still out of the Division IV playoffs. Junior Will Kubota-Martin was on pace to break 1,000 yards rushing.
We will have a complete wrap-up after the season.
Cienega and Empire Volleyball Cienega
defeated Sahuaro 3-2 in late October but the victory still left the Bobcats on the edge of making the playoffs due to a 3-1 loss to Rincon/University a couple weeks earlier.
Empire was set to play Safford right after press time. Both teams were 7-0 in their section, but the loser of the match would fail to make the playoffs. High stakes.
Cienega Boy’s and Girl’s Golf
The Cienega boys failed to make the Division I state playoffs and Taylor Smith was projected to miss the playoffs as an individual.
The Cienega girls, on the other hand, won the Division II, Section III championship and qualified for the state tournament scheduled to be played at the Del Urich Golf Course from Nov. 2-3.
Bobcat freshman Alyza Flores is the sixth ranked golfer in the state and will compete for an individual championship.
Empire plays golf in the spring.
High School Cycling League
According to arizonamtb.org, the Arizona High School Cycling League (AHSCL) was organized in 2012 to provide competitive mountain biking programs for student-athletes in grades 9 to 12.
The AHSCL is part of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) so the league has a 5-race schedule in late summer and fall:
Finished Races
Race 1: Sept. 13: Fort Tuthill County Park, Flagstaff
Race 2: Sept. 27: Pioneer Park, Prescott
Race 3: Oct. 11: McDowell Mountain Regional Park, Fountain Hills
Race 4: Oct. 25: SARA Park Rodeo Grounds, Lake Havasu City
Remaining Race Schedule
Race 5: Nov. 8: White Tank Regional Park, Waddell
Both Cienega and Empire have teams competing in the league.
Empire’s Ethan Overson took second place in the Freshman Division, Cienega’s Kyle Rominger took third and Landen Morris came in fourth in Lake Havasu.
Alexandria Culp came in 16th in the JV Division for Empire.
Heading into the final race, Empire is in 11th place and Cienega is 30th. Buena is the top ranked team in the state.
Overson is ranked second in the state while Rominger is sixth.
Cienega
Kyle Rominger, 9
Nathan Schreiner, 9
Landen Morris, 9
Matthew Mcglone, 9
Noah Vigileos, 9
Sebastian Baldwin, 10
Justin Hinton, 9
Empire
Ethan Overson, 9
Alexandria Culp, 11
Tyler Overson, 12
Dillon Long, 9
Collin Kisiel, 10
Kyle Gannon, 11
Hunter Kahn, 9
Aiden Harrington, 10
Hunter Burns, 9
Cross Country
Cienega seniors Samantha Dupras and Alec White will be racing for a shot at the state meet. From Empire, seniors Caleb Dusek and Kylie McGinnis will also be competing. Sectionals were held after press time on Oct. 31. The top 50 percent of the teams competing at sectionals will move on to the state meet on Nov. 7 at the Cave Creek Golf Course in Phoenix. In addition to the teams qualified, the top 25 runners not attached to a qualified team will also make the state meet.
