It’s not your normal rivalry but it’s a rivalry just the same. Just ask the players, the fans and the alumni. Sure, Sabino has beaten Sahuaro big and often over the last decade or so, with only one loss (2014) along the way, but the battle on the field and in the stands is real. You can almost touch the tension. You can certainly hear it.

Sabino outlasted Sahuaro 41-35 Thursday night to extend bragging rights but it’s a far cry from the games played between 2006 to 2011 when the Sabercats averaged over 52 points a game against Sahuaro, including a 63-17 victory in 2010.  Those days appear to be over.

Still, a win is a win and a loss is a loss and Sabino survived what many feel is their most difficult task of the regular season while Sahuaro surprised the experts by taking the preseason AZPreps365.com No. 2 ranked team in the newly formed 3A Conference to the wire.

Sabino finished 8-2 last year with a first-round loss in the Division III playoffs while Sahuaro finished 5-6 with a similar loss in the D-II playoffs. It was the 5-5 regular season record by the Cougars that may have confused the experts this year. Sahuaro survived one of the most difficult sections in D-II (Tucson, Sunnyside, Cienega and Salpointe) to finish in the top 16 in the state.

It was only natural to expect another lopsided win by the Sabercats in the Coaches for Charity Kickoff Classic but the game was not decided until the final seconds.

There were huge performances on both sides with University of Arizona commit Drew Dixon rushing for 280 yards for Sabino to go along with 81 yards receiving while Matt Paquette rushed for 150 yards for Sahuaro. Cougar QB Nick Fountain threw for 218 yards and he ran for 152 more. But the game was also defined by a combined seven fumbles and a costly unsportsmanlike penalty against Sahuaro.

Dixon ripped off a 50-yard dash on his first touch and he scored a 3-yard run with 7:19 left in the first to give Sabino a 7-0 lead. The game had the looks of another lopsided win but a pair of fumbles and a defensive stand by the Cougars set up an 84-yard run from Fountain to tie the game up 7-7 in the final moments of the first quarter.

Sabino punted again and Fountain hit Tyler Wood on a 44-yard strike to put the Cougars up 14-7 but Drew scored again to tie things up 14-14 with 9:07 left in the half. The game was officially a catfight the rest of the way.

Paquette scratched off a 79-yard run to put Sahuaro back up 21-14 with 5:50 left but Dixon scored again to make it 21-21 with 2:57 left. The Cougars marched down the field for one last shot, setting themselves with a first-and-goal at the 5 but three straight defensive stands forced a fourth down and then disaster struck in the form of an unsportsmanlike penalty on Sahuaro and the Cougars missed on a long field goal to keep the game tied at the half.

“We knew this was going to be a fight at the half,” Dixon explained. “Lots of props to Sahuaro. The coaches came up with a plan in the second half and it came down to execution. We fired all of our ammunition.”

Both coaches, understandably, held themselves responsible for being unprepared, for missed opportunities and other variables that usually pop up early in the season.

“I noticed a lack of conditioning and that’s my fault,” Sabino head coach Jay Campos said after the game.

“We had weather issues and other things getting in our way but we will get ready. I’m happy with our execution and the way we dug deep to get it done. A lot of teams would have crumbled and just said it wasn’t their night but our guys found a way,” he added.

For his part, Sahuaro head coach Scott McKee felt it was his responsibility to clean up the costly mistakes but he still liked what he saw from his players.

“I absolutely felt our guys would put up a fight tonight,” McKee said.

“We have good kids and I knew they would do well. We came off of one of the toughest schedules in our division last year and we still made the playoffs. A lot of people didn’t give us a chance tonight and we had a couple of new quarterbacks. I’m proud of how they played.”

The third quarter started out with four punts and another fumble but Sahuaro overcame another costly penalty and Fountain ran in another score on a first-and-goal from the 14 to give Sahuaro a 28-21 lead with 1:02 left in the quarter.

Sabino responded by driving down to the 3-yard line but a fumble on a handoff gave Sahuaro the ball. The Cougars could have taken control of the game at that point but Sabino fell on another fumble to set up another TD run by Dixon to tie the game up 28-28 with 8:55 left in the game.

Sahuaro punted, Sabino gave the ball back on downs and Sahuaro gave it right back. Sabino QB Alex Bell hit Andrew Carlson from 15 yards out to give the Sabercats a 35-28 lead with 4:44 left and then James Offerman appeared to put the game out of reach after he scooped up another fumble and ran it back 16 yards to give Sabino a 41-28 lead (kick blocked) with 3:35 left.

The Cougars responded quickly and Lincoln Stewart scrambled in from 3-yards out to cut the lead down to 41-35 with 1:08 left. Sahuaro was able to force Sabino into a fourth down but the Sabercats were able to run the clock out to preserve the win.

Both teams will benefit from an off week and then Sahuaro will visit Santa Rita while Sahuaro travels to Queen Creek. The Sabercats will travel to California to take on Mission Hills on Sept. 9. The Grizzlies finished 11-1 last year.

“We are going to get our guys in better shape and they will respond,” Campos added. “Other guys gave us chunks of offense tonight but Dixon carried us.”

Expect Sahuaro to come back strong also. When asked what his team will work on next week, McKee said, “Discipline and details.”