Storm Outside, Steady Inside: SCA’s Composure Shines in Week 1

<p>Scottsdale Christian didn't just win the opener against Pima — which was also a rematch of the last two 2A state championship games — they set the tone on the first snap and never let the night drift, even when the weather tried to hijack it. Two crisp touchdown drives, a long lightning delay (<em>for the third year in a row</em> on their opening game... wild), then the same sharp execution when the game finally came back to life. This was a plan meeting poise.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Opening Script</h2>   <p>First play of 2025 had Sean Helgeson keeping it for 13. Not a panic scramble — a patient, running‑back style read where he lets the crease develop, slides through, and gets down. Next snap he's flushed right and makes the boring, correct choice: don't force anything, steal green grass, move the chains. Two plays, two first downs, and the nerves are gone.</p>   <p>Scottsdale Christian settled things with a couple quick handoffs, then struck. Kyle Olafson won the post with those long strides, Helgeson stuck a ball into a tight window, and Olafson's late hands — the kind you love to see as a scout — kept the DB from ever finding it. Touchdown. Five plays, 6‑0, and it looked exactly like something they practiced all week.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Pima's First Answer Falls Flat</h2>   <p>To Pima's credit, the first snap was a clean four‑yarder with a nice hole. Then it got messy. A stuffed second‑down run, a penalty that should've been a small break, but then on 3rd‑and‑less‑than‑one they opted to run out of shotgun with a brand‑new starter at quarterback. That's a tough ask. They got stoned, then the punt snap rolled and the punter tried to make a play that wasn't there — turnover on downs in plus territory.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Drive Two: Jet, Slant, Walk‑In</h2>   <p>SCA went right back to stress the edges. Dom Dickerson took a jet for about 15 behind wideouts who did the dirty work and sealed it. Then [player_tooltip player_id='1682156' first='Isaiah' last='Steffen'] got room on a slant and exploded to the one. That's Steffen's game — ball secure, body through contact, and burst after the catch. From there Everett Salazar didn't need anything fancy: follow the double, hit the hole, and walk in untouched. When your perimeter sets the table and the backs run with pace, the red zone looks simple.</p>   <p>At that point, it felt like a clinic on sequencing: stress them towards the sideline with the jet, stress them inside on the slant, and the middle is wide open to turn it upfield. 14–0, and SCA's sideline looked like a group that had already found their Week‑1 rhythm.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Lightning Strikes, Rhythm Stays</h2>   <p>Then the skies opened. The delay stretched and stretched — the kind of August monsoon pause that can turn a two‑hour night into five and scramble teenagers' legs and heads. When play finally resumed, it was Pima's ball… and SCA's defense immediately put the clamps on: three plays, actually lost one yard, punt.</p>   <p>Back on offense, Helgeson didn't force anything. A couple runs that showed Salazar's quick feet and burst, a quick screen to get the ball out and the linemen moving, and then the dagger: Dickerson winning a one-on-one on the outside for six. Same kid who gashed them on the jet earlier now beating his man vertically — a nice little preview of how SCA can shape‑shift with the same personnel. Helgeson looked exactly how you want your quarterback to look after sitting for two hours: calm eyes, quiet feet, confident arm.</p>   <p>From there, Scottsdale Christian controlled the night. The clock, the field position, the situations. They dictated every single facet of the game.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Why It Worked</h2>   <p><strong>Quarterback poise.</strong> Helgeson handled the night like an upper‑classman. The early designed keeper let him settle in, and after the delay he went right back to operating. That calm is contagious for a huddle in Week 1.</p>   <p><strong>Receiver traits that complement.</strong> Olafson's late hands and stride length change windows down the field. Steffen is a chain‑mover who showed he can turn slants into explosives because he runs through tackles. And Dickerson gives you both the motion/jet stress and the vertical win on the outside — same number, two different problems. You can build a game plan around that trio without getting cute. And that's al before factoring in Slazar who finished the night with three scores.</p>   <p><strong>Perimeter buy‑in.</strong> The first drive's touchdown gets the headline, but the second drive is the culture piece: wideouts blocking DBs to spring the jet, then finishing on the slant. When your receivers win without the ball, the red zone gets easier and backs like Salazar start stacking touchdowns.</p>   <p><strong>Defensive intensity.</strong> Senior linebacker Martin Perez was flat‑out everywhere. He piled up 12 tackles and at least two of them shut down drives right when Pima started to find some rhythm. Alongside him, edge rusher Joseph Kassisieh made one of the plays of the night on defense — reading a screen perfectly, driving on the football, and snagging an interception. For a bigger body who usually makes his living crashing the edge, that awareness and timing stood out. Those two plays summed up SCA's defensive effort: swarming in space and opportunistic when Pima showed a crack.</p>

Scottsdale Christian didn't just win the opener against Pima — which was also a rematch of the last two 2A state championship games — they set the tone on the first snap and never let the night drift, even when the weather tried to hijack it. Two crisp touchdown drives, a long lightning delay (for the third year in a row on their opening game... wild), then the same sharp execution when the game finally came back to life. This was a plan meeting poise.