The No. 13 Camp Verde High School football team played the upset card Friday, Nov. 5, defeating No. 4 Pusch Ridge High School in the first round of the 2A conference state playoffs, 35-7.

“They just weren’t very good,” Camp Verde Head Coach Luke Steege said. “They were 8-1 this season and we beat them up pretty good. It just shows you how tough our Central region was this year.”

Five of the six 2A Central region teams won Friday night, with No. 10 Valley Christian High School being the only one to lose. Valley Christian lost to No. 7 Scottsdale Christian High School, a Central region foe, 21-17.

The Cowboys totaled over 300 yards of offense Friday against the Lions, putting them to bed early with a 21-0 lead at the half.

Junior quarterback Deshon Tripp completed three of five passes for 20 yards but ran 14 times for 53 yards and a touchdown.
Senior Tanner Rezzonico had a game to remember against Pusch Ridge, carrying the ball 20 times for 193 yards and two touchdowns.

Rezzonico also had a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown, single-handedly putting the Lions away.

“That was some game Tanner [Rezzonico] had,” Steege said. “He’s had a great year for us and he came up big in Friday night’s playoff game.”

Defensively for the Cowboys, which allowed only a third-quarter touchdown by the Lions, junior Jake Spleiss and Paul Davis tied for the team lead in tackles with 10. Gavin Collins had eight and Rezzonico had seven.

Davis also recovered two of the four fumbles made by Pusch Ridge, while Tripp and Collins each had one fumble recovery.

“They kept turning it over and we kept scoring. They had some athletes but I didn’t expect them to play this bad. The south must be pretty weak this season,” Steege said.

With the victory, the Cowboys are 6-5 [2-3, 2A Central] overall this season.

Camp Verde will prepare for football powerhouse St. John’s High School, which earned a No. 5 seed in the state tournament and beat Bisbee High School [28-0] in its first-round game.

St. John’s won the 2A state championship in 2007 and 2008 and will be a tough test for the Cowboys come Friday, Nov. 12, especially since Camp Verde has to travel to St. John’s. The Redskins are 8-2 this season.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.