Sierra Linda cancels game vs. Centennial
School cites safety concerns for team
Phoenix Sierra Linda, outscored 436-6 in seven football games, has canceled its home game Friday night against top-ranked Peoria Centennial.
Centennial (7-0) did not consent to the cancellation, so it will go to the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Executive Board, which could impose a $1,500 fine on Sierra Linda.
Both the junior varsity and varsity games were canceled this week.
The Tolleson Union High School District put out a statement on Thursday:
“Per bylaws set forth by the Executive Board of the AIA, Sierra Linda High School has requested to cancel its game on Friday against Centennial, due to the real possibility of grave injury to its current roster of players. The team is currently undermanned due to injuries to key players in their last game. The Tolleson Union High School District puts student safety first and we do not want to do anything that would jeopardize that. It is our hope that Centennial High School would understand. Again, we thank the AIA for having this bylaw in place and we plan to adhere to their process”
Two weeks ago, Centennial shocked the nation with a 12-0 win over then No. 3 nationally ranked Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas, the defending Florida 7A champion that was last shut out in 1996.
This will go down as a cancellation in the AIA/MaxPreps rankings, so Centennial will only have nine regular-season games. Centennial’s games will be divided by nine, instead of 10, so it shouldn’t impact its state playoffs seeding in the 5A Conference. Centennial currently is seeded No. 1. Sierra Linda is ranked 42nd among 43 5A schools.
Sierra Linda is hoping to have key players returning to play at Gilbert Campo Verde next week. It will be Campo Verde’s Senior Night. Centennial coach Richard Taylor said he wasn’t planning on playing star senior running back Zidane Thomas against Sierra Linda. Thomas has been nursing a tight hamstring since the Phoenix Pinnacle game.
A running clock could have been used. But Sierra Linda simply didn’t feel it would be safe with few healthy players left, according to David Hines, executive director of the Arizona Interscholastic Association, who spoke with Tolleson district superintendent Nora Gutierrez.
‘Emotional investment’
Chandler Basha coach Rich Wellbrock hasn’t lost himself amid the departures during a turbulent first season leading Chandler Basha’s program. During a six-game losing streak, he said eight players left the program.
But junior quarterback Connor Phelan was impressive in his third varsity start, passing for more than 400 yards and three touchdowns in a 47-13 rout of Phoenix Brophy Prep. It ended coach Scooter Molander’s 12-year streak of guiding Brophy into the state playoffs. Basha (2-6) would have to beat Hamilton and Gilbert Perry in its last two games to have any chance at a playoff berth.
“We continue to teach our kids to raise football IQ as well as inject emotional investment into the Basha football and community,” Wellbrock said.
Wellbrock said he has seen weekly growth in a young team.