Desert Ridge Football

Monday is the State Championship Football game for 5A-1 High School Football. It's Hamilton versus Desert Ridge. Desert Ridge is in Mesa and my youngest cousin, Sam Papa, is on the Desert Ridge team.  Here is a fun e-mail we got from the city today:

"Mesa Mayor Scott Smith and Chandler Mayor Boyd Dunn placed a friendly wager on the 5A-1 State Championship football game scheduled for Monday at University of Phoenix Stadium. Desert Ridge High School, which is in Mesa and a part of the Gilbert Public School District, is playing Chandler’s Hamilton High School.

The losing team’s Mayor will wear the winning team’s jersey at the next City Council meeting or other Mayoral event.

“I can’t wait to see Mayor Dunn in a Jaguars jersey,” Mayor Smith said. “It should be a fantastic game; these are great teams with a lot of heart who will fight to the finish. At Monday’s City Council meeting I’ll be proclaiming December 13, 2010 Desert Ridge High School Day to mark their first state championship game.”

Catch the game on Fox Sports Arizona starting at 4:07 p.m.

"I appreciate Mayor Smith's optimism. Hamilton is riding a 39-game winning streak that I don't expect to end anytime soon,” Mayor Dunn said. “But I can agree with the good mayor that both teams will indeed make this a contest worthy of its championship title. It is great to see the East Valley represented so well on the field."

This is Desert Ridge’s first trip to the championship game and Hamilton is the defending champion hoping to bring home an unprecedented third golden football."

True, Hamilton might be a tough team to beat, going 39-0, but this time, Hamilton is going up against a Papa.   I wonder if they'll even know what hit them.  Good luck Sam! 

(image of Sam from here)