When Jeremy Hathcock took over the Mesa football program prior to the season he had a connection to the history of the Jackrabbits.

Coaching circles can extend for decades, but Hathcock didn’t realize the Jackrabbits standing in Arizona history when it came to total wins.

The Jackrabbits reached the state-record of 700 wins on Friday with a win over Salpointe Catholic.

“I didn’t know anything about it until the summer,” he said. “I never expected to be celebrating 700 wins, and it goes all the way back to 1920? It’s pretty amazing.”

While Hathcock has only been there from the start of this season, he knows the lineage through the coaches he played against or coached against over the years like Jim Rattay, Kelley Moore and Bill McCane.

“I never expected anything like this and very thankful for the very small part in it,” he said. “I think about Rattay, who was connected to Paul Moro who was my coach at Blue Ridge. Then there’s other great coaches like McCane and Moore. This is all about what they were able to accomplish.”

Mesa is the lone Arizona school with 700 wins, but there are several at more than 600 and a handful with at least 500.

Using numbers printed in the Barry Sollenberger preseason magazine in 2015 and the results listed at AzFootballArchives.com, here are the programs that have reached 500 wins.

1. Mesa 700
2. Snowflake 626
3. Safford 625
4. Round Valley 622
5. Winslow 617
6. Tucson 614
7. St. Mary’s 570
8. Peoria 562
9. Gilbert 538
10. Flagstaff 518
11. Douglas 512
12. Amphitheater 509
13. Tempe 500

*Editor’s note: We recognize this might not be a complete list. Research is continuing and will be updated if another program breaks 500.

 

Digging it

Arizona girls volleyball programs have been involved in the Dig Pink – Playing with a purpose put on by the Side-Out Foundation during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Arizona schools have raised as much as $7,000 in one match since the event started back in 2005. Typically, two rivals schedule each other and compete in fundraising endeavors to help support the cause.

It’s a great event. Several East Valley schools participate. Some of the matches have already taken place with others coming up the rest of October.

 

Big-time event

The first Fiesta Bowl Copper State Invitational for girls flag football starts on Thursday and finishes up Saturday at Arizona State. Two of the East Valley's top programs - Hamilton and Highland - are participating.

Pool play will be held Thursday and Saturday morning at ASU’s Dorsey Fields, which is located at 510 S. Dorsey Lane in Tempe.

Here is the schedule:

Thursday

Hamilton vs. Prescott (North Field) – 2 p.m.
Mountain Ridge vs. Xavier (South Field) – 2 p.m.
Highland vs. Sunrise Mountain (North Field) – 3:45 p.m.
Liberty vs. Canyon View (South Field) – 3:45 p.m.
Xavier vs. Hamilton (North Field) – 5:30 p.m.
Prescott vs. Mountain Ridge (South Field) – 5:30 p.m.
Canyon View vs. Highland (North Field) – 7:15 p.m.
Sunrise Mountain vs. Liberty (South Field) – 7:15 p.m.

Saturday

Pool play

Hamilton vs. Mountain Ridge (North Field) – 10 a.m.
Prescott vs. Xavier (South Field) – 10 a.m.
Highland vs. Liberty (North Field) – 11:45 a.m.
Sunrise Mountain vs. Canyon View (South Field) – 11:45 a.m.

Semifinals

1:30 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.

Championship

 5:45 p.m.

Tradition continues

Benjamin Franklin coach Danny Norris and some of his staff were wearing chain-link necklaces around their necks in the win over Gilbert Christian last week.

As many programs do, they give out the chain links at preseason camp, but weekly the players can give out a chain to a coach who help them or inspired them that week.

Norris has used it at all of this coaching stops after noticing the concept when his brother and cousin played for Steve Belles at Mountain Ridge in the early 2000s.

“I remember thinking how cool it was,” Norris said. “The kids seem to like it as well.”

Has anyone lost one? Creating a weak link?

“Not that I know of,” he said. “At least no one has told me they have."

Learning to compete

The California transfers to Mesa caused some headaches, assumptions and rumors surrounding the program.

Hathcock and his Jackrabbits got through it and are on the other side of it now. There were some adjustments that needed to be made and smoothed over internally.

The Mesa players are starting to understand why the new Jackrabbits have been successful.

“Honestly, they are teaching our kids how to compete,” Hathcock said. “They see how (the California players) are this good and they still want to be great in practice. It was an eye opener. You can’t teach competitiveness right away as a coach. It’s a bridge you have to build over time. This has allowed us to compete at a high level now.

“They showed them the road map of how to get there now.”

Hathcock said now that he’s on the other side of 50 years old and his kids are all grown, he's more relaxed and has time to be in the moment.

 “I’m a different coach at 50 than I was at 40,” he said. “I’m not as much of a (jerk). I’ve grown a little, and now I have more energy than I did 10 years ago.”