Is Thatcher the greatest small-school Arizona high school football team ever?
The question now isn't so much could Thatcher win it all at the 3A level? It is: Could this be the greatest small-school football team in Arizona high school history?
There would be arguments be made until forever. But Thatcher is making such a devastating run that it could be in the conversation.
The Eagles, who can finish running the table Friday in a mid-afternoon 2A championship showdown against Eagar Round Valley at Gilbert Campo Verde High School, have gone 13-0, while outscoring opponents 579-88.
And that's without throwing double-digit passes in a game.
The closest anybody has come was 3A playoff team Safford, who lost 28-20 on Sept. 7. That was before 6-foot-2, 230-pound junior defensive end Collin Thompson became eligible.
Thompson, a transfer from Safford, was finally cleared to play in the last month, adding another big dimension to a stellar defense.
Since the Safford game, the Eagles have obliterated everybody in their wake, outscoring the next nine opponents, 445-52. Included along the way was a 42-3 rout of Round Valley on Oct. 19.
Thatcher beat Benson 50-6 in the playoffs with quarterback Jack Kortsen not completing a pass in five attempts.
"They run a unique offense but they have the personnel to do it," Round Valley coach Marcus Bell said. "All of their linemen are at least 250 pounds. They have a big back who is 200 pounds. The biggest thing they have is so much depth. they have like 19 linemen and they rotate everybody."
Round Valley (11-2) has a good team. But it will take a flawless effort and a flawed performance by Thatcher to bring down the Green Machine that is led by Kortsen and running backs Riley Morris and Quinton Turley.
Korsten is used primarily as another runner out of the backfield in the option attack. He has more than 700 rushing yards, along with Morris, who ran for 129 yards and three TDs in the last meeting against Round Valley.
Don Conrad, who coached Thatcher to back-to-back state titles in 2000 and '01, returned to the program this year as offensive coordinator after interim coach Ramon Morales asked him. Morales, a longtime Thatcher assistant, was called on to take over the program after former Thatcher player Sean Hinton went on leave for personal reasons.
"We try to keep kids going," Conrad said. "We have a lot of kids going both ways. But if you rotate them, you keep them fresh."
Thatcher has used six running backs in games.
Senior lineman Quentin Mack saw this team building since the seniors began playing Pop Warner together.
So is this the best small-school team in Arizona?
Better than either Phoenix Northwest Christian or Yuma Catholic, who meet afterwards Friday night in the 3A final, also at Campo Verde?
"I think it definitely would be tough," Mack said. "Yuma Catholic and Northwest Christian are good teams. But I think we'd given them a run for their money."
2A championship
Friday, 3 p.m. at Gilbert Campo Verde High School
No. 1 Thatcher (13-0) vs. No. 3 Eagar Round Valley (11-2)
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him at twitter.com/azc_obert.
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