by 
San Manuel Miners
The San Manuel football team made its greatest strides so far this season but, unfortunately, the result remained the same, as the Miners were defeated at Tombstone last Friday, 36 – 26.
The loss was The Miners third-straight to start the season.
The Miners started fast, something head coach Damon Lovato said the team discussed after starting slow in games against Yuma Catholic and Benson. The discussions worked as evidenced by the Miners’ 18 – 6 lead early on.
“We came aggressive in all facets of the game,” Lovato told the Miner. “The main objective coming into the game was to start faster. We felt like we didn’t come out as aggressive in our first two games as our opponent.”
The 26 points scored were a season-high for San Manuel, thanks to a dominating performance by the offensive line, according to Lovato. Christian Estrada, Santiago Salazar, Michel Ochoa, Mark Burnham, and Louis Chavez are the big nastys up front that allowed the Miners’ skill players to reach the endzone.
Now that the Miners have the start of games where they want, they’ll need to perfect the finish to hit the win column.
“Now it comes down to us closing games out,” Lovato said. “We have confidence in starting fast, playing aggressive and moving the ball.
“It stung a little to play that hard and not come away with the (win). There are some things [defensively] we need to cleanup before Willcox.”
Up next: San Manuel has a bye this week and plays next on Sept. 14 versus Willcox at home. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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.
by by