AZ prep football teams reschedule some games
This year’s Honor Bowl in Southern California has been canceled. But Scottsdale Saguaro football coach Jason Mohns said his team still intends on traveling to play JSerra Catholic.
Instead of the game being at Cathedral High in San Diego, the Sabercats will play at San Juan Capistrano JSerra on Sept. 5, Mohns said.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the Honor Bowl wouldn’t be held this year for the first time in its 11-year history because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Honor Bowl is more than showcasing games over two weekends in September, featuring national powerhouses.
There are tours of Camp Pendleton and speeches given to players in their locker rooms by war veterans. Those things would be eliminated by COVID-19.
“Without those things, we’re just football games, and that’s not us,” Mark Soto, CEO/founder of The Honor Group, told
Saguaro still plans to play host to Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon on Oct. 2 with ESPN set to televise the game nationally.
The California Interscholastic Federation
announced last Friday that its has made July 20 the deadline when it will decide on whether or not to have fall high school sports.
Several Arizona teams have had games scheduled against California schools. Some Arizona school don’t want to take the risk of losing that game.
Chandler has canceled its late August home game against JSerra, coach Rick Garretson said, because JSerra has out-of-state travel restrictions because of the pandemic.
Chandler is making up that game with Phoenix Pinnacle on Sept. 18, and the Scottsdale Notre Dame game moves to Week 2 on Aug. 28. Both of those games will be played at Chandler.
This gives Pinnacle an 11th game. “We will continue to seek out-ofstate opponents,” Garretson said.
This is the first time since 2012 that defending Open Division Arizona state champion Chandler isn’t playing an out-of-state opponent.
Gilbert Higley is no longer traveling to Southern California to play Burbank and will play at Phoenix Mountain Pointe, instead, on Sept. 11.
Phoenix Desert Vista picked up Chandler Hamilton on Oct. 9 after canceling its game at El Cajon (Calif.) Granite Hills.