Down 7-6 at the half to Desert Ridge, Marana turned on the defensive pressure to fuel a 26-7 victory at home Tuesday night to open up the 2024 flag football season. The Jaguars went 12-3 in the inaugural season last fall, which translated into a quarterfinal finish in the 6A Conference with each of the three losses coming up one play short, and the Tigers went 13-1 with a 21-20 loss to eventual state runner-up Mountain Pointe in the 6A quarterfinals.

Marana standouts Malaysia Roebuck and Nami Singer were part of the inaugural Fiesta Sports Foundation Preseason All-State Football Team with Singer listed as a rusher on defense but it was her 34-yard touchdown grab from her sister Roxi Singer after Sadie Brown came up with an interception that put the Tigers up 6-0 with 7:46 left in the first quarter. Nami’s catch came off of a deflection and she was able to use that to her advantage as she sprinted down the sidelines for her score.

Nami Singer put Marana up 6-0. (Andy Morales/AZPresp365)

 

The Jaguar offense kept Marana on edge early with several misdirection plays and it was a masterful play that gave the team a 7-6 lead at the half after Hailey Richmon tossed a short 2-yard past to Hayden Brainard and then Brainard pitched the ball back to Richmond and she sprinted 20 yards into the end zone for a 7-6 lead with 9:18 left in the first half.

Both teams struggled form there but Rebecca Tomberlin came up with an interception to give the Jaguars great field position at the Marana 9-yard line with about one minute left in the half. A penalty and a couple of defensive stops forced the Jaguars to try a field goal to extend their lead but Roebuck came up with a block on the 27-yard attempt to keep the game close at the half.

Tomberlin came up with her second interception to start the second half but the Tiger defense started to assert itself and the Jaguars were forced to punt. Ella Joplin and Roxi Singer took turns in the backfield in the next drive for Marana and Singer hit Adrian Griffin for 26 yards to set up a 10-yrd TD pass to from Singer to Griffin to put the Tigers up 12-7 with 3:57 left in the third.

Joplin opened the game up with a 48-yard TD toss to Roebuck to put Marana up 19-7 with 11:51 left in the game and Roxi Singer ended the scoring on a five-yard run to give the Tigers a 26-7 lead with 7:46 left.

Desert Ridge QB Lexi Harper. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

Desert Ridge QB Lexi Harper had 75 yards passing with 48 yards rushing, Roxi Singer had 81 yards passing with two TDs and a rushing TD and Joplin had 125 yards passing with a TD. Roebuck had 64 yards receiving, Griffin had 58 and Nami Singer had 41.

Marana (1-0) will play at Casa Grande (1-0) on Thursday. Casa Grande standout Kayla Tacker made the Pre-Season All-Star list. Desert Ridge (0-1) will play at Desert Vista on the same night.

Rebecca Tomberlin had two interceptions. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

Roxi Singer. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

Ella Joplin. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

THE SCORING