The Bagdad Sultans are this week's Tire Pros High School Team of the Week after defeating Mogollon 44-20 in the eight-man Division VI title game, earning the school's first official state championship.
Bagdad, which opened its doors in 1948, won an unofficial state title in 1952, playing six-man football, but this is its first championship since then.
Tony Jauregui threw for 240 yards and four touchdowns for the Sultans, who capped a perfect 10-0 season. Cody Low and James Loveall each caught a pair of touchdown passes, Justin Pacheco ran for two scores and Casey Jeans rushed for 162 yards in the victory.
"I just knew we had some of the best athletes in the state, and all I had to do was protect the ball and get the ball to those athletes," Jauregui told the Prescott Daily Courier afterward.
Other teams under consideration were Deer Valley, River Valley, Mesquite, Thatcher, Williams Field and Queen Creek.
The Tire Pros High School Team
of the Week is selected by a panel consisting of
Jason Skoda of MaxPreps
and the Ahwatukee Foothills News, Mark Heller of the
East
Valley
Tribune, Don
Ketchum and Les
Willsey of aia365.com, and Craig
Morgan, Matt Swartz and Dave Lumia of
FOXSportsArizona.com.
