YC gearing up for playoffs
The Yuma Catholic Shamrocks are no strangers to the Arizona Interscholastic Association state football playoffs.
No. 1-seed YC (7-0 AIA) hosts 16th-seed Bourgade Catholic (4-3) on Friday night. It will mark the 19th consecutive season the Shamrocks will participate in postseason play.
Despite winning three state championships during that stretch, YC hasn’t lifted the hardware since 2014.
What will it take for the Shamrocks to crown
themselves as champions in 2020?
According to YC head coach Rhett Stallworth, the effort will require discipline and focus.
“We need to not be our own worst enemy at times,” he said. “We need to go out and control what we can control.”
After last Friday night’s 69-28 regular season finale win over Kingman, coach Stallworth said he was going to treat the game like a loss due to sloppy play.
His attention to detail has not gone unnoticed throughout the week’s preparation for Bourgade on Friday night.
“We’ve had a good week of practice,” senior offensive lineman Brannon Weatherby said. “I feel like because we’re going into the playoffs, we’ve had a different mindset. It’s helped us step up and bring a new mentality to the season.”
Signal-caller Richard Stallworth has observed a change of pace in practice as well.
“The tempo has definitely picked up,” he said. “We used to have practices where people were lackadaisical, but this week we’ve really picked it up.”
The current mission for YC is to play the best of their abilities. No matter who the opponent is.
Early in the season, the Shamrocks had several difficult matchups (PHX Christian and Pusch Ridge), but the back end of the schedule lacked flair. At times, YC played down to their opponents, something the Shamrocks can’t afford to do in win-or-gohome scenarios.
“For all kids in this age bracket, it’s important not to underestimate anybody,” coach Stallworth said. “You can drive home to them everything you want as a coach, but sometimes kids discard some of those things. They need to understand what we’re telling them is the truth and take it seriously.”
However, the Shamrocks’ offense – scoring 48.7 points per game – hasn’t missed a beat, no matter who’s lined up across from them.
The work that the players put in during the offseason has contributed to the execution on that side of the ball.
Players would meet during early summer mornings to practice plays and build a connection for the 2020 season.
“Me and (Richard Stallworth) would wake up at 5 a.m. and get some work in before our online classes,” Weatherby said. “I think it’s helped a lot this year. We have more of that quarterback/center connection than I had with last year’s quarterback, and it’s really shown in the offense. It’s a lot smoother.”
Junior WR Mario Martinez, one of YC’s best deep threats, mentioned the constant work both on and off the field, which his quarterback has translated into the 2020 offense’s success.
“Last year, I didn’t have much of a connection with then-QB Gage Reese,” Martinez added, regarding the Shamrocks’ current explosive offense. “This year, I’ve known (Richard) for a while and all the receivers have a great connection with him. It’s all about our connection.”
That ever-growing relationship has propelled Stallworth into one of the country’s best passers. His 2,776 yards passing ranks him 1st in the state of Arizona and 38th in the country. The sophomore’s 38 passing touchdowns leads the state.
Despite the gaudy numbers in the stat box and the never-ending points listed on the scoreboard, the players don’t believe this offense has reached its ceiling.
“We have a lot of improvement to go,” QB Stallworth said.
Defensively, the Shamrocks have discovered their identity. Their goal is to play fast, hit hard and disrupt opposing teams’ schemes.
Due to their stingy play, YC has posted two defensive shutouts in a season for the first time in four years.
“We’re flying around and making plays on the ball,” junior linebacker Dezmend Esquivel said.
Esquivel has noticed a difference from the practices and games of previous years, particularly with the amount of passion each player brings, and says that the fiery spirit should translate over into the playoffs.
“We definitely have a lot more excitement,” he said. “We want to dominate, straight up.”
While the Shamrocks are loaded with young talent, senior two-way player Jonah Leon is accustomed to the playoff experience. He is one of the few players on the team that was defeated by Northwest Christian in the 2018 state championship.
The taste of losing still stings for Leon and he’s been an instrumental piece of helping the younger players prepare for a winor-go-home scenario.
“The upperclassmen have been here before,” he said. “We know the feeling and we don’t want to feel that again. We really want (the young guys) to stay focused.”
“The goal is to win state.”