Give props to Chandler Hamilton for its victory over Miami Booker T. Washington on Friday. The Huskies traveled across the country and beat the Miami Herald’s No.1 team and the defending 4A Florida state champ in its own backyard. Every Arizona school should thank Hamilton for representing the state so well.
But before we go anointing Hamilton as a national power let’s put the win in perspective. Booker T. Washington’s enrollment is more than a thousand students fewer than Hamilton’s and there are two higher classifications of prep football in Florida …

Despite rampant rumors, no one knows why Stuart Goldstein’s tenure as the Phoenix St. Mary’s football coach lasted only two months before former Mesa Westwood coach Eddy Zubey took the reins, as was reported first by Les Willsey on eastvalleytribune.com Thursday night.
It’s my opinion, however, that the Knights made a mistake in hiring Goldstein in the first place. Contentious, often arrogant and dogged by rumors of impropriety, Goldstein was a far cry from the class and grace that defined the program under coaching icon Pat Farrell.
Was it Goldstein’s ability to …

Wondering who the contenders are in the 5A-I state title chase?The picture will be much clearer after Thursday.Three games involving what are essentially the only six remaining players (sorry, Chandler, Phoenix Desert Vista and Mesa) take place in a Yom Kippur-induced early week.No. 1 Chandler Hamilton battles No. 2 Mesa Red Mountain; No. 3 Phoenix Brophy battles No. 4 Mesa Mountain View; and No. 5 Mesa Westwood battles would-be No. 6 Chandler Basha.Here’s hoping Red Mountain gives Hamilton a game. It would be nice to think there is still some …

The first power points come out the week of Sept. 24, giving every team an early read on where it stands in the playoff race.It will be interesting to see how many teams from the newly formed 5A-II Pima Region make the postseason. Given the weakness of three other 5A-II regions, here’s hoping all five — Horizon, Desert Ridge, Pinnacle, Skyline and Marcos de Niza — make it.No. 3 Marcos and No. 4 Pinnacle seem like shoe-ins, and Desert Ridge’s schedule should put it in the hunt. Horizon has lost …

I’ve covered the Mesa schools since 1992 and this may be the most balanced the district’s schools have been in all that time. If not for Desert Vista’s remarkable, 22-point fourth-quarter rally (where have you been Thunder) Friday, Mesa’s six schools would be a combined 15-0. But 14-1 still screams.Mountain View and Red Mountain have been the dependables of the district in recent years, with Westwood and Mesa fielding some good teams. Dobson? The Mustangs have continually confounded prep observers with their high enrollment and low achievement. Not any more. …

Ever ignore a gut feeling because the straight facts demanded it?I did that Friday when Gilbert played Desert Vista. All preseason, the Tribune staff had lauded the talent on the Thunder’s side of the ball. Speed, skill, good lines. How could Desert Vista possibly lose to a Gilbert squad that had just dropped a low-scoring affair to a Westwood team that was playing without one-third of its roster for disciplinary reasons?So I went with Desert Vista in my Tackle the Trib picks, ignoring that gnawing feeling that this was a …

If there’s a more animated football coach in the East Valley than Hamilton defensive coordinator Manny Palomarez, the coaching ranks must be rife with blood-pressure conscious pill poppers.Alternately pounding the glass when an official made a bad call (as if they could hear him) and cheering his boys when they did something well, Palomarez was better theater than Thursday’s sloppy early-season game between Hamilton and Brophy, if you happened to have a nearby seat in the press box where he was caged.Just when I started to worry about Manny’s long-term …

High school coaches and players finally have something they can agree upon. The offseason was too short.For players, a summer spent chilling with friends is in the books. It