View our MAxPreps Site

ASDB/St. Augustine Wins Final Home Game

by Andy Morales, Oct. 22, 2009
TucsonCitizen.com

There were no marching bands, no cheerleaders, no painted bodies, no mascots, no TV stations, no print media and no concession stands……and I loved it.

Arizona Schools for the Deaf and Blind/St. Augustine defeated Ajo at home last night 18-16 in a classic 8-man football game.

The two schools combined their forces again due to small numbers of athletes at both schools. St. Augustine travels everyday to ASDB for practice and when the two teams are on the field one cannot tell which is which.

It becomes very clear from the opening kickoff, however, that their achievements belong in the sports pages like all other high school athletes rather than buried on page four in some human-interest section.

I didn’t know what to make of only 8 men playing a game where 11 usually play. The only difference was the use of 4 linemen. The other so-called “skilled” position appeared to remain

 intact.

I also didn’t know what to make of the first two minutes and 12 seconds of the game.

ASDB/SA took the opening drive down to the 17-yard line before they  fumbled the ball away. Ajo fumbled it back on the next play. Starting QB Mike Lucio had the ball taken from his hands on the very next play by Ajo’s QB/DB Isaac Manuel.

Three fumbles in a little over two minutes on three consecutive plays made me wonder if it was going to be a long night.

Read entire article here

SACHS Football Team Featured in AZ Daily Star

Deaf, hearing teammates on same wavelength now. Different worlds merge on eight-man football squad

By Patrick Finley
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

The bass drum on the sideline would be the quarterback, they decided, a simplistic "boom! boom! boom!" to signify the basic cadence of football: "Hut, hut, hike."

It made sense at the time, coaches admit — everyone could hear the snap count, in his own way.

They look back at it now and smirk. Their 26 players — 11 deaf or hard of hearing — were more similar than different all along.

The Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind and St. Augustine Catholic High School have combined their football teams successfully, through four games this high school season. The team has a 1-3 record playing eight-man football, and probably won't be a contender for the state title.

But that's not the point.

What's happening at ASDB — the West Side campus that St. Augustine players bus to for a half-hour every day — is still the greatest success story of the season.

The first week of August practice, without a translator, co-head coach Arden Dohman, a St. Augustine parent, learned he couldn't just blow his whistle. He had to extend both arms outward at the same time so deaf players could understand.

Read entire article here

SACHS Football Philosophy  

• Respect
  • The Game, the Official, your Oppents, your Coaches, your Teammates, Yourselves
• Integrity and Honesty
  • Always play and coach within the rules of the game
  • Always let you know where you stand and what we expect from you, Trust
• Commitment
  • The Beacons of the program
• Discipline
  • Structure, Doing little things the right way, Self-control
• Intensity
  • Football is an Intense Game played by Intense players
• Enthusiasm
  • Contagious and powerful, positive attitudes
• Selfless Teamwork
  • Put the Team ahead of yourself
• Models of Good Conduct
  • Postive Role Models, Set the Example
• Development
  • Educate the whole person
• Sportsmanship
  • We set the example, win with humility, lose with class
• Solutions, not Complaints
  • We are in this together, we want to do things the best way, not necessarily your (my) way
• Fundamentals
  • Eliminate bad play and mistakes; Work plays in; Excution
• The Power of the Pack (Team)
  • Everyone contributes
  • The team can accomplish much more than any individual
• Persistence Pays
  • We will compete. We will never give up as long as there is time on the clock. Never Quit!

ASDB/St A HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCHEDULE 2009