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Lt to Rt-Jalon Murray, Edgar Galindo, Dominic Perea, and Nicolaus Cruz.
Football players, and members of the Class of 2017, from Superior, Ray and Hayden high schools accepted invites to don their pads and strap up the helmets one final time to play in the annual 1A Conference Senior Bowl, which took place June 3 at Duncan High School.
Nicoalus Cruz, Edgar Galindo, Dominic Perea and Jalon Murray from Superior were joined on the Red team with a quintet of players from Hayden, including Brandon Cruz, Devin Donovan, Ryan Donovan, Michael Guerrero and Adrian Encinas.
Paul Wormwood and Anthony Acuna were on the roster of the victorious Blue team that defeated the Red, 46 – 30.
The Superior trio of Cruz, Galindo and Perea were named Offensive MVP, Defensive MVP and
Coach’s Awards, respectively, for the Red team.
The game represented the final high school game for all the players in the game. That made it a differently feeling than most other games they played in during their careers.
The Red Team
“The emotions I had before the game weren’t the usual emotions I’ve had. I was sad because I switched my jersey number. I usually wear number 6, but I decided since it was the last game I would ever play I should make it special,” said Perea, who wore number 40 in memory of his Uncle Joseph Perea.
Perea, who lined up at four different positions – wide receiver, linebacker, safety, and defensive end – played an inspired game, perhaps the result of some divine intervention.
“That was the first time I’ve played that good in a while,” Perea wrote in an email to the
Copper Basin News. “So much of my family came to watch me play and I was glad they did. The first thing I did after the game was point in the sky and I said, ‘I love you uncle.’”
The Superior football team experienced tremendous success the last two seasons and arguably was the best team in the state not to win it all. Perea, like every other player, will remember their high school careers for as much that happened off the field as on.
“My greatest high school football memory was going to the semi-finals my junior and senior years,” Perea recalled. “Even though we lost, my team and I put everything we had into both of those undefeated seasons. My teammates became my brothers through the years. I guess you could say my favorite memory was creating a bond with all of my teammates.”
The Senior Bowl provided one more lasting memory and kindled new relationships too.
“The players and guys I met at the Senior Bowl were amazing people,” said Perea. “I created bonds with a lot of them and they are now my friends.”
Congratulations to all of the Copper Area players for representing their schools and our community extremely well.
Andrew Luberda began writing for Copper Area News Publishers (CANP) in February 2013 after working 15 years in Healthcare Financial Management. Andy covers sports for 11 high schools. His stories are published in Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner and Superior Sun, in addition to the San Tan Valley Daily PRSS and CopperArea websites. Additionally, he has written human interest stories and business profiles. In May 2012, he earned an AAS in Sports Management at Central Arizona College before graduating with a BS in Communication from Arizona State University in 2014. He and his wife, Kelli, have three sons – AJ, Kyle, and Kade.
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