Garrie Ester is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Saguaro High School for AZPreps365.com.

SCOTTSDALE - "Offense sells tickets, but defense wins championships."

The famous line was once said by legendary college football coach Bear Bryant. 

The late Alabama coach would have been proud on Friday night, as defense was a theme in Hamilton's tough 13-7 win over Saguaro to improve to 3-0. 

There were a total of 11 punts in the game, which created opportunites for special teams also to have an enormous impact. 

There were only two touchdowns throughout, the first one being a 55-yard punt return by junior running back and safety Javen Jacobs in the middle of the first quarter.The second? An eight-yard scramble by junior quarterback Nicco Marchiol in the middle of the second quarter, set up by a punt return by senior defensive back Zachary Lewis in which the drive started at Saguaro's 11 yard line. 

Sophomore kicker Jacob Medina went 2 for 3 on field goals in the game, which proved to be just enough for the Huskies to get the victory. 

The biggest play of the game for both teams came late in the fourth quarter. Saguaro turned the ball over on downs with 1:24 left on the clock after they failed to convert a 4th-and-8 in Hamilton territory, which ended the game as Saguaro did not have any timeouts. 

Even with the gut-wrenching loss, the head coach of the 2-1 Sabercats, Jason Mohns, still had optimism for the rest of the season, as he felt the best could be yet to come. 

"If this is our jumping off point, we are going to be just fine," Mohns said. "We get some players that are getting eligble that are really dynamic, we've got some guys that have stepped up that I think this team is going to be primed to make a run."

The Sabercats had seven transfers in street clothes on the sidelines that will become eligible to play starting next week when they go on the road to take on the 3-1 Horizon Huskies. 

"I knew it was going to be a dogfight," Mohns said. "We were missing our best offensive weapon in Denzel Burke, which hurts us. He is a dynamic playmaker."

Burke, a 2021 Ohio State commit, did not play due to injury. 

Mohns expected Burke to be out 4-6 weeks, and hoped he can return at the end of the season in order to possibly make a run at the end of the season. 

"Credit to Hamilton," Mohns said. "They have been playing great football, they boatraced their first two opponents and that's obviously the highest caliber opponent we have played so far. We are not quite where we need to be, but I think we have all the tools that we need to get there."