Head coaching gigs are firsts this season for two former East Valley assistants.
Phoenix South Mountain coach George DeLaTorre and Phoenix Trevor Browne coach Randy Ricedorff kicked off their head coaching careers last week against one another at Trevor Browne.
South blew an early lead, but rallied in the final minutes to beat Trevor Browne, 32-27.
DeLaTorre has held assistant coaching positions at Westwood, Red Mountain and Skyline since the late 1980s. DeLaTorre was in his second stint at Westwood last season.
It was during DeLaTorre’s first stint with Westwood that the Warriors won their last state championship, in 1988.
Ricedorff was a starter for that Warrior squad under the tutelage of then-head coach Jerry Loper.
Prior to taking over as Trevor Browne’s coach, Ricedorff served as an assistant coach at Westwood and at Mesa Community College. South was 4-6 last season in the Metro Region and Trevor Browne finished 5-5 in the Northwest Region. Neither qualified for the playoffs. South hosts Mountain View tonight while Trevor Browne travels to face Mesa High.
GILBERT-CORONA
If the first week’s stats are any indication, tonight’s Gilbert-Corona del Sol game may take awhile.
Corona del Sol quarterback Chase Larsen and Gilbert quarterback Kyle Newhall-Cabalero combined to throw 53 passes in their wins over Tucson and Peoria Sunrise Mountain, respectively. They completed 32 of the throws for 595 yards and six touchdowns.
