Marana defeated Desert View 54-12 Friday night to clinch the 5A Sonoran Region championship. The win gave the close-knit Tiger community their first region title since 1974 and their first playoff appearance since 2007.

Ranked No. 7 coming into the region championship, Marana (7-2 overall, 4-0 in region) was pretty much a lock for the state playoffs already but a trophy affirms the faith the Tiger family put in head coach Andy Litten when he was hired to rebuild an 0-10 program in 2012.

A former dominate player at Marana Mountain View, Litten played under University of Arizona coach Dick Tomey before heading out to coach in the high school ranks. Litten had successful stops as an assistant at Mountain View and Catalina Foothills before accepting the job at his rival school, Marana.

“When I look at this on a personal level, I look at the staff we have here,” Litten reflected after celebrating with his team.

“We went through an 0-19 streak as a school and we never knew if this would happen. This championship has been a culmination of a lot of kids, not just the ones who are playing this year. Our staff and players have a tremendous amount of gratitude for the Marana community for the amount of acceptance they have shown us.”

The Tigers went through that 0-19 streak thought the 2010, 2011 and 2012 years. Though Litten was only part of the last five losses of the streak, you can tell it’s a community effort. One must wonder if he picked up some of that sense of fairness and community from Tomey.

On the other side, Robert Bonillas also inherited a program that was in disarray. The Jaguars went to the state playoffs in 1996 but followed that high with the low of an 0-10 season.  The program recorded four more seasons without a win heading into 2016.

Bonillas was a former all-state player at Nogales before he, like Litten, suited up for the Wildcats. He was hired at Desert View to see if he could bring a culture of competition back to the program and it looks like he has succeeded.

Ranked No. 10 heading into the game against Marana, Desert View (7-2, 2-1) is almost a lock for an at-large berth to the state playoffs, depending on the power-rankings. The next set of AIA/MaxPreps rankings will be released Tuesday morning and then the Jaguars will face No. 26 Poston Butte (3-5, 1-2) to end the regular season next Friday.

“We need to get back to what we were doing before,” Bonillas said. “Back to what we have been doing all along like blocking and tackling. We will be alright.”

A nagging injury to standout running back Alex Courtemanche has also slowed the Jaguar offense. Courtemanche had a state-leading 1,763 yards rushing heading into the game but he was limited to only 32 yards on 12 carries due to limited action.

Jesus Equihua had 28 carries coming into the game but he was called upon to fill the gap and he finished with 26 yards. Senior quarterback Cesar Olivas picked up 28 yards on the ground and 107 in the air and he accounted for both touchdowns recorded by the Jaguars on a 14-yard pass to Emilio Yepiz to cut the Marana lead down to 33-6 in the third quarter and a 2-yard run to cut the lead down to 33-12 with 38.7 seconds left in the third.

The third quarter was the only bright spot for the Jaguars except for the opening quarter when the team limited Marana to a touchdown. Trenton Bourquet hit Tyson Corner from 7-yards out to put Marana up 7-0 with 3:09 left in the first. It looked like it was going to be a battle at that point but the sophomore finished with 227 yards passing with three touchdowns.

QB Connor Leavens also had a great night with 113 yards passing with three TDs. His father, Todd, passed away on Oct. 12 at the very young age of 53 but the senior went on a few days later and threw for 378 yards a four TDs to lead Marana past Poston Butte 52-14.

From first-hand experience, a loss of a father is a day-by-day struggle with plenty of valleys and mountains ahead with very few open roads. Leavens has found comfort on the field and plenty of support off the field. Judging from the many reports of his father’s service held on Wednesday, that support is deep and still growing.

“The amount of support shown to me and my family by the Marana community is amazing,” Leavens explained. It has helped us move forward.”

The loss of his father should not be overshadowed by a championship season. And it won’t be.

His loss obviously carries more importance, but the success on the field has become a part of the healing process. That’s the beauty of sports - an unreal world that helps us escape from realities, if only for a few hours under bright lights of a high school football game.

Dominic Gehr finished with 129 yards receiving and two TD catches, B.J. McDaniel added 86 yards with two more scores and Corner had his TD catch. Jesus Valenzuela added a 49-yard TD catch. Antonio Reyes had 63 yards rushing, Manny Miranda had a 2-yard touchdown run and Teon Simmons ripped off a 37-yard TD.