St. David’s Davis, Goodman, Haynie awarded top 1A South honors

Valley Union running back Jacob Sonke, who had a state record 532-yard performance against Mohave Accelerated, and led the 1A South in rushing and was awarded first team honors as he finished the season with 1,079 yards in four games, scored 12 touchdowns and had three games where he ran for over 100 yards.

St. David won the 1A South this past year finishing 5-0 overall, 3-0 in conference. The Tigers were beaten 38-20 at home by the Williams Vikings (who would later lose in the state finals) in the first round of the state playoffs.

Davis, who also received first team all region honors at quarterback, threw for 1,062-yards with 16 touchdowns and five interceptions this past season. He also ran for 271-yards and scored three touchdowns.

“It has been such a pleasure coaching Logan and I’m really going to miss that part of the football relationship we had,” Logan’s coach (and father) Braden Davis said. “I sat by myself and bawled in the training room the weekend after our loss, washing the jerseys and putting away No. 6. I asked my brother, ‘how did you do this twice?’ He said he cried both times. As you can imagine, coaching your own kid can be both frustrating and extremely rewarding. I’m harder on him than I am with anyone else, and it was often difficult to take off my coach’s hat at home and just be dad; I’m sure it was even more frustrating for him at times. By his junior and senior year, he contributed so much to our offense and game plan, and it was like having an extra coach on the field.”

The coach said his son would often audible out of the calls that were sent in from the coaches, and nearly always, the result was positive adding that in an overtime win against Baboquivari last year, five of St. David’s touchdowns were audible calls Logan made.

“We gave him the reins frequently and often let him just call the plays,” Braden Davis said. “I will miss that and miss watching him play. His football IQ is extremely high and he picks up things that I don’t see and he recognizes things much better than I do. He has been playing organized football for... gosh, he just finished his 12th season. That’s a long time. And for all of those years he was either the backup or starting QB.”

Goodman, a junior, along with Brayden Merrill, who was awarded first team defensive honors, led the Tigers defensively with 43 tackles. Six of Goodman’s tackles were for a loss.

“I have told Jake that sometime before he graduates we need to line him up at center and nose tackle because then he will have played every offensive and defensive position in a varsity game,” coach Braden Davis said. “As a freshman, he came in and played QB for half a quarter when our starter and two backups went out with injuries. He ended up becoming a starting guard his sophomore year. Jake is a workhorse and will play anywhere for you. He’s the first kid in the weight room and the last one out. He loves to hit. He’s fearless. He’s not going to beat you with finesse and trickery, but by grit and fearless tenacity, which makes him a perfect linebacker.”

The coach added that Goodman improved so much this season in strength, speed, and power, which was due to his strong work ethic and efforts in the weight room.

“We’re very much looking forward to having him (back) next season,” coach Braden Davis said. “Jake is a little faster than Merrill, who was nearly the defensive player of the year. Brayden tied Jake in total tackles and can be described about the same way.”

Haynie, who is also a junior, led the region in both scoring and tackles for loss. He finished the year with 725 yards on 69 carries; was second in the conference in rushing behind Sonke, scored eight touchdowns, had five games where he ran for over 100-yards and had seven tackles for loss.

“Haynie’s superpower is that he can stop on a dime and explode like a rocket,” his coach said. “I’ve never coached a kid with that kind of quickness and ability to stop fast. He also works his tail off in the weight room and gained both speed and power this year. He emerged as a vocal team leader, and was our only junior captain this year. Talon is quiet and almost shy off the field, but becomes a fiery tiger when he puts his pads on. We’re very much looking forward to having him back next year... and guess what? He’s got a bunch of younger brothers!”

Coach Braden Davis added Logan and his senior teammates, Jacquez, Larson, Gooding, and Merrill will all likely be playing in the 1A All-Star game that will be hosted by St. David the first Saturday in June.

“It should be a fun event,” the coach said. “We were set to host it last year, but had to cancel due to the pandemic.”