Each week Cox Communications and SCF are proud to honor two players with: “Scholar Athlete Awards” for outstanding on and off the field contributions.
10/15 North Canyon at Desert Mountain
Tonight we honor Colten Rasen “ruh-seen” of Desert Mountain and Alex Schwindt of North Canyon. Colten has a 4.6 GPA ranking top 5% in his class. He wrestles and is an Eagle scout. Alex has a 3.8 GPA, plays basketball, and has volunteered at St. Vincent de Paul, North Hills Church, and as a youth football coach. Congratulations to Colten and Alex, two outstanding leaders.
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Desert Mtn. tops N. Canyon; eyes playoffs
by Richard Obert - Oct. 15, 2009 11:02 PM
The Arizona Republic
With a stingy defense and a good-enough passing game, its hopes of returning remained alive Thursday night with a 20-0 victory over visiting Phoenix North Canyon.
Desert Mountain (5-2, 1-1 in the Class 5A Desert Valley Region) battled illness all week. Its best lineman, Tyeler Davison, and top runner, Kevin Radcliffe, had the flu but still played. Desert Mountain found others to come through. Quarterback Drew Seaman, in his fourth game starting, threw three scoring passes, two of those to Dekota D'angelo. The other, a 47-yard strike to Matt Del Valle, followed an interception. Kyle Tokasey had two interceptions and was clutch in the final quarter, when he caught a 40-yard pass on a third-and-20 situation to keep alive a scoring drive that put North Canyon (3-4, 0-2) away.
"We got Pinnacle (6-0) next week and they are what you see," Desert Mountain coach Tony Tabor said. "They'll play solid."
North Canyon lost tight end/punter Alex Schwindt early in the final quarter with a neck injury. He stayed on the ground after getting hit hard on a pass play. There was a nearly 30-minute delay. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
Coach Brian Cole said Schwindt had movement to his lower extremities but had neck pain and every precaution was being taken.
Quarterback Dominic Portocarrero was intercepted three times. North Canyon had a couple of drives stalled by holding penalties.
Radcliffe started at tailback but was used mostly as a decoy, as Seaman passed for 257 yards. Seaman broke a scoreless tie with a 38-yard strike to D'angelo with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.
Neither team effectively moved the ball until midway through the final quarter, when Desert Mountain drove for a touchdown.
"I think we hurt ourselves more than anything," Cole said. "We had penalties and interceptions. But they played good defense."
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Pinnacle shuts out North Canyon
by Nick Kosmider - Oct. 9, 2009 11:11 PM
The Arizona Republic
To win consistently, a team must be opportunistic. Phoenix Pinnacle certainly was that Friday night as the Pioneers remained unbeaten by taking advantage of a host of mistakes by Phoenix North Canyon en route to a 24-0 shutout in the Class 5A Division II Desert Valley opener for both teams.
Pinnacle (6-0, 1-0) turned a blocked punt and two North Canyon turnovers into 17 points and played mistake-free on offense behind an efficient performance from quarterback Alex Cappellini, who finished 11 for 14 passing with 189 yards and two touchdowns.
"I like to think we coach that into them," Pinnacle coach Dana Zupke said of the defense's ball-hungry approach. "We work real hard on taking the ball away and then being efficient and not giving the ball away on offense, and we did a pretty good job of that tonight."
Cappellini, who threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Alex Zemezonak to help put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter, said his teammates on the other side of the ball made the offense look good.
"The defense wins the game," said Cappellini, who also added a rushing touchdown. "If they don't play (well), then we don't win."
Penalties and turnovers cost North Canyon (3-3, 0-1), particularly in the first half. On its opening drive, a 32-yard pass deep into Pinnacle territory from North Canyon quarterback Alex Portocarrero to Connor Todd was negated by an offensive pass-interference penalty.
Portocarrero drove his team down the field on its next possession but had a pass intercepted in the end zone that ended the threat. 
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Obert: Arizona's top 10 quarterbacksSecond in a series looking at the state's top players at each position:
10. Dominic Portocarrero, Phoenix North Canyon, 5-11, 175, Jr.:
Only a junior but already has two seasons in as the varsity starter.
Last year’s numbers were good: 1,127 yards, 16 TDs, 4 interceptions.
This year should be huge.
Jeffrey Lowman/The Arizona Republic Check out AZCentral.com for slideshow of Friday nights game.
http://www.azcentral.com/commphotos/azcentral/11787/1/10
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Late Turnover Boosts Sunnyside
By Alex Espinoza
Special For The Republic
Usually, when a team erases a 14-point halftime deficit, it's the best comeback of the night. But that wasn't the case Friday in Phoenix, because Tucson Sunnyside needed a pair of come-backs to defeat Phoenix North Canyon 24-20.
"We didn't make any plays is the first half," Sunnyside coach Richard Sanchez said. "But I just told them (at halftime) to cut down on the mistakes and play error-free football and they did a great job of responding."
With about 1:45 left in the game, North Canyon seemed to have the victory wrapped up. Junior running back Tavonn Dodson was streaking down the field, his team holding a 20-17 lead. then a few seconds later he was caught from behind and lost the football.
About a minute after that, Sunnyside senior quarterback Perry Shazier connected with senior wide receiver Chris Howard on a 33-yard, game-winning score.
"I'm extremely proud of this team," Howard said. "I like how we fought all the way through the whole game. I mean, we're a second-half team. We give the most in the fourth quarter.
"That's what we trained all summer for." It was an especially heart-breaking loss for North Canyon, as it entered the locker room with a 14-0 lead.
Sophomore Julian Jones replaced Shazier at quarterback with about three minutes left in the half and inject some life in the Sunnyside offense. Shazier came back at the end of the game, though, to run the two-minute offense.
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Don Ketchum - Aug. 12, 2009 11:16 AM
Special for The Republic
After a few years in a region without any geographic rivalries, Phoenix North Canyon returns to its old "neighborhood" this fall with the intent of making a run at the Class 5A Division I Desert Valley Region football crown.Last year, North Canyon was in the 5A-I Metro Region along with four schools from the Phoenix Union High School District - Alhambra, Cesar Chavez, Maryvale and Trevor Browne.In the Desert Valley, North Canyon now will be going against the likes of Scottsdale Chaparral, Scottsdale Desert Mountain, Phoenix Horizon, Phoenix Pinnacle and Phoenix St. Mary's.It is a tougher football conference and should provide more of an opportunity to secure more power points, which determine seedings in the state playoffs."You can't overlook anyone in this region," North Canyon coach Brian Cole said. "There are some traditionally strong teams. Plus, Desert Mountain might have the best team it's ever had, and St. Mary's is an up-and-comer again."One of the most interesting games will come Oct. 9, when North Canyon hosts Pinnacle. Cole said it will be the first meeting between the schools, which have shared a junior-high feeder system in the past."Everything is going good," Cole said. "We competed well in the passing league, and we are looking forward to playing in our new region."He is optimistic about his returning players."I can't think of anywhere (position-wise) where we are worse off than last year," he said in comparing the 2009 crew to last season's 8-3 team.The front seven return on defense, he has a good corps of receivers, and he said the offensive line is better than last year's in terms of athleticism and strength.Cole added that overall, his skill players make the team as dangerous in that area as it has been throughout the school's existence.Keep an eye on junior Dominic Portocarrero, a junior who is a safety and has started at quarterback his first two years."He is ready for a breakout year in terms of numbers and leadership. He is still a junior, but it is his team now," Cole said.North Canyon might have one of the Desert Valley's fastest players in junior running back Tavonn Dodson, who also started a year ago.Others expected to play key roles are senior defensive lineman Antuwon Sanders, tight end Alex Schwindt, defensive lineman Zach Ewan, offensive linemen Rick Shearer and Brandon Coston, and the linebacker trio of Will Cranmer, Andrew Rogitz and James Ley.
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