Scottsdale Saguaro canceled its Sept. 4 football game with rival Scottsdale Chaparral due to safety concernswith an already depleted roster, but the program intends to continue its season.
Before the season began, Saguaro canceled its lower-level (freshman and junior varsity) teams due to low numbers. At least 35 players have transferred out of Saguaro since the school went through two coaching hiring processes in the winter and spring after Darius Kelly was let go after two seasons.
According to MaxPreps, Saguaro is listed with 25 players on its varsity roster. The Sabercats play in 6A, the highest conference in the state.
"We're not canceling the season. We're not doing anything like that. We just took some time to regroup. That's what we're
trying to do,'' said Sabercats head coach Butch Goncharoff.
Even though Saguaro has 4A enrollment numbers, the program was so strong in recent years that the Arizona Interscholastic Association kept moving the team up a conference. It went from 4A to 5A, then to 6A and in 2021 captured the Open Division state championship.
Saguaro won a 6A title in 2023, but signs of deterioration emerged after players began leaving the school. Arizona's open enrollment law allows students to easily transfer between public school districts.
Goncharoff, who took over the Saguaro program in April, said some of the players were beat up from the 62-0 season-opening loss to defending 5A champion Scottsdale Desert Mountain last week. None of those were season-ending injuries, he said.
"We just had kids beat up like a normal football game," he said. "There were other things, where prior to the game kids didn't play, and I can't get into that. We went into Sunday night feeling fully that we were going to play. We actually felt good about it.
"But things kind of went south, and we may not get these kids back. And we also didn't want to leave Chaparral without the opportunity to find a game."
With Phoenix Carl Hayden canceling against Tempe, the Buffaloes are now filling Saguaro's spot to play at Chaparral on Friday night, Sept. 4. Chaparral is a 5A football team; Tempe is 4A. Both teams won their openers in blowouts.
Stephen Cervantez, athletic director of the Scottsdale Unified School District, said Saguaro has no plans to cancel the rest of the season. The hope is to be healthy enough to play host to ALA Queen Creek on Sept. 10. ALA Queen Creek (0-1) opened its season with a 44-10 loss to No. 4 (6A) Peoria Centennial.
"We hate to see any games get canceled in any sport," said Jim Dean, AIA executive director. "Just happy that those teams are being able to play. We'll just continue on with the season and go from there."
Dean said he's not concerned Saguaro will wind up canceling the rest of the season.
"They have not given us any indication that they're considering anything beyond this week," Dean said. "We would certainly look forward to them playing the remainder of the schedule."
After this season, the AIA reclassifies football teams. Most will stay put, but a handful likely will move up or down a conference.
Saguaro, which has had losing records the last two seasons since capturing the 6A title, could end up being placed in 4A, based on enrollment numbers. Usually, teams move up or down one classification. But if Saguaro is placed in 5A, it can appeal to be placed in 4A, Dean said.
Goncharoff is just worried about getting his players through this season. He said he played seven freshmen against Desert Mountain.
"I ended up playing a lot of freshmen in the game, and that's hard," said Goncharoff, who led Bellevue High to 11 Washington state championships. "I never played freshmen before. We kind of balanced that out and put them in situations to play."
"We're not canceling the season. We're not doing anything like that. We just took some time to regroup. That's what we're trying to do."
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don't miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What's next for Saguaro football after cancelling game with rival?
