Don Ketchum
Former Staff Writer, AZPreps365.com

Good work by Arizona football, baseball, soccer honorees

December 9, 2013 by Don Ketchum, AZPreps365


Cleaning out the notebook and focusing on Arizona honorees . . .

*Congrats to Phoenix Brophy Prep long-time baseball coach Tom Succow, who was recently inducted into the National High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.

Succow has won a state championship and finished as runner-up on a few other occasions.

The most noteworthy thing for him is his years of service – 37 as the Broncos’ field boss. That’s a lot of baseball, and a lot of work helping build young men into solid citizens and leaders.

I can’t think of another coach who deserves this honor more . . .

*Quarterback Luke Rubenzer, who led Scottsdale Saguaro to the Division III state championship, has been named the Gatorade Player of the Year for Arizona.

Rubenzer, headed for the University of California, threw a state career-record 130 touchdown passes, including a state season-record 61 in 2013. He also passed for 9,645 career yards.

Without a doubt, Rubenzer and Tucson Salpointe Catholic’s Cameron Denson were the two best players I saw this season . . .

*Phoenix Paradise Valley grad Meredith Chew has been named to the NCAA Division III Women’s All-Central Region soccer second team as a goalkeeper for Augustana College.

Chew, a sophomore is the daughter of Paradise Valley girls coach Wyck Chew,

Meredith also was a first-team all-conference selection (College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin). She started all 21 games and allowed just 13 goals for a 0.63 average. She also led the conference in save percentage . . .

*Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep was the winner of the top bracket (1) in the Horizon Girls Tournament that wrapped up over the weekend. The Saints defeated Anthem Boulder Creek in a shootout after the teams had battled to a 1-1 tie in regulation.

Other bracket title games: Bracket 2 – Scottsdale Desert Mountain 1, Phoenix Horizon 0. Bracket 3 – Phoenix Sandra Day O’Connor 4, Peoria Sunrise Mountain 1. Bracket 4 – Peoria Liberty 1, Avondale Agua Fria 0.