Each year there seems to be optimism for the football program at Red Mountain, and with good reason. The Mountain Lions won a pair of state championships at the turn of the century, and have the enrollment and talent base to be competitive every season.
Despite those built-in advantages, Red Mountain hasn’t finished more than one game over .500 in a season since 2007. Ron Wisniewski took over as coach last year, but the Mountain Lions finished only 6-5, albeit against a brutal schedule.
While this is only the second game of …

Mesquite senior running back/linebacker Austin Curtis (wearing white)  ran for 300 yards and four scores behind starter Anthony Lopez in 2010. Before he hits the field in 2011, he talked about his Cardinal hero and a disdain for dairy.
Class you dread the most, and why: Spanish because it is confusing sometimes.
I wish I knew how to play: The guitar
Career aspirations: Anything around football
The last book I read was: The Prince and the Pauper
What I would eat for my last meal: Pork burrito from Cafe Rio.
Favorite fast food restaurant and item: …

With the Matt Gracey era of Mesquite football a couple weeks away from beginning, we caught up with him to talk about his new schemes, style of play and the fortunes of having a quarterback who play his way.
Offensive production has sometimes been a bugaboo at Mesquite. What kind of a style do you believe in?
Spread offense, we’ll go from 5-wide to sometimes two guys outside, it’ll be multiple formations and we do a lot of stuff. Kind of in the Oregon-style to keep you off balance. We don’t have …

The high school boys basketball summer club circuit is winding down, but not before some of the best players in the country head over to Mesquite on Wednesday and Thursday to take part in the Desert Duel Memorial.
This is an elite tournament, and college coaches such as Rick Pitino (Louisville), Bruce Weber (Illinois), Herb Sendek (Arizona State), Sean Miller (Arizona) and Lorenzo Romar (Washington) have been on hand in previous years to scout and recruit players.
The Sun Devils have a pair of recently committed players taking part in the tournament.
Hamilton …

(Note: This story was in the newspaper last week, but didn’t get posted in the blog, so the news is about a week old.)
After spending 16 of the past 20 years at Red Mountain, Jason Grantham was ready for a change.
Now, he just has to convince his son, Brayden, to go along with it.
The Mountain Lions’ third-year baseball coach has accepted the athletic director position at Mesquite, replacing Anthony Scanio, who is moving out of state.
Grantham went to Red Mountain in high school, then returned as a teacher and coach …

New Mesquite football coach Matt Gracey is still finishing the school year in California, but he’s traveled back and forth a couple times during spring to try and learn about his new school and new kids. He took a few minutes to talk about the little he’s been able to muster about his 2011 squad.
What was your timetable to come out here?
We’ve been hooked up with some good people. I might be on my own for a little while, while my wife takes care of some loose ends. I want …

After spending 16 of the past 20 years at Red Mountain, Jason Grantham was ready for a change.
Now, he just has to convince his son, Brayden, to go along with it.
The Mountain Lions’ third-year baseball coach has accepted the athletic director position at Mesquite, replacing Anthony Scanio, who is moving out of state.
Grantham went to Red Mountain in high school, then returned as a teacher and coach for the past 13 years. He coached freshman football at Fremont Junior High, and took over the varsity baseball program from Henry Faccio …

First Team
P: Michelle Duncan (Gilbert); Kailey Regester (Basha); Jacklin Lewis (Dobson)
C: Savannah Panell (Highland); Katie Tripp (Corona del Sol)
1B: Kayla Carter (Highland)
2B: Courtney Hiruko  (Basha)
SS: Heather Shomperlen (Mtn. View)
3B: Erin Manuel  (Mtn.  View)
IF: Ayssa Vargas (Mesquite); Lauren Regester (Basha)
OF: Ashley Moffatt (Highland); Abby Spiel (Corona del Sol); Cassie Vela (Gilbert); Annie Dyer (Mtn. View)
UT: Theresa Asta (Basha); Domi Shone (Mesquite)
Second Team
P: Val Kaff (Mtn. View); McKenna Isenberg (Corona del Sol)
C: Morgan Browning (Dobson); Sidney Ryan (Mtn. View)
1B: Katie Harvill (Gilbert)
2B: Kailey Olcott (Dobson)
SS: Hailey Maher (Basha)
3B: Alex Vela …

Mesquite was the first victim of this year’s ultra-tough bottom bracket in the 5A boys volleyball tournament, losing to Mountain View in three sets on Monday.
The second-round matches feature four teams that could have been in the semifinals if the matchups aligned differently, but between Gilbert-Brophy and Mountain View-Hamilton, two teams will be going home earlier than expected.
In the top half, meanwhile, Chandler and Desert Vista are thanking their lucky stars. The Wolves had little problem dispatching defending-champion Glendale Deer Valley in three games, as they were underdogs in seeding …

Coaching a baseball team must be frustrating at times.
In football and basketball, there are still upsets, but generally the best team on that particular day wins the game.
In baseball, that’s not always true.
In Tuesday’s 5A Division I second-round state tournament game between No. 1 Mesquite and No. 9 Brophy, the Wildcats hit the ball all over the yard, but had trouble actually getting runners to home plate in a 5-3 loss to the Broncos.
Brophy coach Tom Succow lauded the composure of sophomore pitcher Steven Oleksak, and his ability to keep …