The Pinnacle Pioneers have been one of the most consistent teams in the valley for over a decade now. In the past 11 years, the team has ranked in the Top 25 programs in the state. Though they have been on some close runs, they have come up short of a state championship. In 2024, Pinnacle now figures to be one of the best teams in 6A, but could it be time for them to make a run in the Open Division? Let’s preview the Pioneers’ season ahead of them for 2024.

Schedule

Week One (8/31): vs La Cueva (NM)

For the third season in a row, Pinnacle will kickoff their season against an out of state opponent, this time taking on the La Cueva Bears out of Albuquerque, New Mexico. La Cueva is the #1 Ranked team out of New Mexico, and just won the 6A State Championship last season, finishing the season on a 10 Game Win Streak after dropping the first 3. The Bears are lead by QB Cameron Dyer, a dual-threat QB who threw for 2400 yards and rushed for nearly 1400 more, leading the team in both categories. Dyer is an ASU-Commit, so while the game will be played in Northern AZ at Coconino, it’ll be the last time Dyer plays in AZ on a visiting team. On the defensive side of the ball, ILB Mason Posa will command a defense that allowed just 16.6PPG. Posa is the #5 Inside Linebacker in the Nation and committed to Wisconsin.

Week Two (9/6): @ Tolleson

Pinnacle will take on Tolleson in Week 2. Tolleson has had a nightmare of an offseason, one of sorts that rivals another team on the Pinnacle schedule (which we will get to later). In just 3 months, Tolleson has lost their projected QB1 (Kristian Escobedo), 3-Star Defensive Back Clarence Tucker, WR/DB Asad Ali, 3-Star WR/DB Hamisi Juma, and the biggest loss of them all, presumed 5-Star TE Judah Lancaster. This exodus of stars leaves WR Rico Blassingame to be one of the lone-stars of what was a young and promising Tolleson team.

Week Three (9/13): @ Corona Del Sol

Another team that has lost their fair share of talent, Pinnacle travels to Tempe to play the Aztecs in Week 3. In one off-season, Corona Del Sol has lost 9 out of 10 of their leaders in total yardage from last season. The most impactful out of this group being the two underclassmen, WR Raiden Vines-Bright, who transferred to IMG Academy in Florida, and Jai Jones, who transferred to Chandler. With no clear leaders on this team, Pinnacle will look to capitalize with a Week 3 W.

Week Four (9/19): vs Horizon

Pinnacle hosts Horizon in their Home-Opener in what will be a very intriguing game against one of the top teams in 5A. Pinnacle defeated Horizon last season in Scottsdale by a score of 27-7. Pinnacle QB Wyatt Horton put up a total of 151 Yards and 2 TDs. It’ll be interesting to see how new HC Tyson Ditmore and the Huskies respond this time around.

Week Five (9/27): vs ALAQC

ALAQC will roll into North Phoenix in what will be the 2nd half of two back-to-back high ranking matchups for Pinnacle. ALAQC handed Pinnacle the first loss of their season last year, in what was an all-out aerial attack by the Patriots. QB Enoch Watson threw for 4 TDs including an impressive 99-Yard catch and run by WR Jayden Williams. Despite this, it was a close matchup until the end as ALAQC won by 1. This time around, the Patriots will have neither Watson or Williams, but are led by one of the best defensive-lines in the state. The Pioneers will look to get some revenge for last season.

Week Six (10/04): vs Chaparral

Pinnacle caps off a 3-Game homestand against the Chaparral Firebirds. In this Week 6 matchup, Pinnacle will gain the services of Saguaro-transfer Owen Pimbert, who was 2nd in tackles for the Sabercats last season. He will be a key player for the rest of the season for a strong Pinnacle defense. For Chaparral, QB Cam Allen will become eligible this week, who is coming off of an impressive freshman season at Central. Pinnacle crushed a struggling Firebirds team last season, 47-6, and would like to do the same this year.

Week Seven (10/11): @ Liberty

The Pioneers make the trip to Peoria to play the defending Open-Division Champion Liberty Lions. It goes without saying this will be the toughest matchup of the season for the Pioneers, as it would be for just about every other team in Arizona. Liberty features a star-studded roster of guys like Caden Branstrom, Hudson Dunn, Zeth Angel Thues (who will be available Week One), and Kamden Seagall, who the Lions will have just gotten back in Week Six. There no sugar coating this one, Liberty is projected to be the best team in the state once again, and demolished Pinnacle 57-19 last year. Pinnacle would love to play upset in this Week 7 Matchup.

Week Eight (10/25): @ O’Connor

Fresh off a bye-week, Pinnacle will head over to O’Connor in this Week Eight Matchup. Last season, Pinnacle played one of their most complete games all season, and were clicking on offense and defense. In a 37-20 W, Pinnacle QB Wyatt Horton put up his best numbers all regular-season, passing for 252 yards, 2 TDs, no INTs as well as another TD on the ground. WR Jace Pina put up 111 yards on 3 Receptions and a TD. The Pioneer Defense picked off QB Hudson Gray. Pinnacle looks to have a repeat performance against the eagles this year.

Week Nine (11/1): @ Centennial

If Liberty is the toughest matchup for the Pioneers, it only makes sense that the Open Division Runner-Ups would be the 2nd toughest matchup for Pinnacle this season. Pinnacle heads to the West Valley late in the season to play Centennial. Similar to Liberty, Centennial will be at full strength when they play the Pioneers, as transfers Nikko Boncore, Shamar Berryhill, Jesus Diaz III, and Asad Ali, (just to name a few), will all be available. Centennial put on a show last season, defeating the Pioneers 31-6. Pinnacle will try and avoid making the same mistakes they did last season against the Coyotes this year.

Week Ten: (11/8): vs Saguaro

The Pioneers will wrap up their regular season against the Saguaro Sabercats on Senior Night. To say Saguaro had a rough offseason would be an understatement. They lost more than 20 players via transfer, half of which, were expected to be starters in 2024. Moving past this, the Sabercats promoted Assistant Coach Darius Kelly to their vacant HC position. He will look to lead Saguaro. Kansas-commit Garrett Martin figures to be the best player on Saguaro’s defense and team in general. Saguaro did defeat the Pioneers last season 28-6, but it is likely that things will be different this season.

Contributors

With the schedule preview out the way, lets take a look at some of the guys that will be leading Pinnacle this season

• QB Wyatt Horton: The 2-Year varsity starter just committed to Idaho State last month. He looks to continue what he did last year. He threw for more than 2000 yards, 18 TDs, and just two picks. He is one of the best quarterbacks in the state heading into the season.
• WR Jace Pina: Pina was 2nd in receiving for the Pioneers behind McClane Richards last season. Pina will likely operate as the Pioneers WR1 this season as Horton’s top-target.
• DB Xavier Sanders: A ball-hawk on the Pioneers defense, Sanders lead the team in passes defended last year and had 2 Picks in 9 games.
• LB Owen Pimbert: Another transfer from Saguaro, Pimbert is a huge loss to the Sabercats and a massive boost to the Pinnacle Defense. Had over 100 tackles last year for the Sabercats and will team up with another Pioneer star on defense after Week 5.
• LB: Dean Vincent: As previously mentioned, Vincent is a beast on defense. The junior led the team in sacks last year with 15.5, and was 2nd in tackles.

Expectations?

Pinnacle looks on track to again be one of the highly ranked teams in 6A. They will look to break into the Open Division for the first time since 2019. In a poll of about 300, WSSArizona followers have the Pioneers going somewhere around 7-3 on the season.

Their schedule contains a very solid mix of winnable and challenging games, with rematch games from last season including teams that have fallen off a bit,

Pinnacle will kickoff their season on Saturday, 8/31 against La Cueva in Northern AZ.