If there’s been one consistent over the past two decades of Arizona high school football, it’s that Head Coach Steve Campbell’s Williams Field teams will be focused for Week 1 after the month-long training camp lead up to opening night.  The Black Hawks succeeded once again to start this year’s campaign as they bested Campo Verde, 49-21, on the road in Gilbert.

The victory makes Williams Field 15-4 in varsity openers in its history (all under Campbell).  He was happy coming out with the win, but not necessarily satisfied with the way his team played.

”I liked a lot of things that we did,” Campbell said.  “But we turned the ball over and we can’t do that.  (We made) some penalties that we can’t do – we call them gift cards.”

Campo Verde (0-1, #11 in 5A) took a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter after a 50-yard interception return from junior Davin Rolle, who looks to be a star in the making.  However, Williams Field (1-0, #12 in 6A) got its offense in rhythm in and scored touchdowns on three straight possessions to close out the half.  The Black Hawks received the second-half kickoff and added one more on for good measure to turn that early deficit into a commanding 35-14 advantage.

Williams Field junior running back Christian Davis sees some daylight on a run. He scored a pair of touchdowns in the Black Hawks’ victory.

5 players that stood out

Williams Field RB Christian Davis

The junior scored a pair of first-half touchdowns with one rushing before catching a short pass and turning it into an 80-yard scoring play.  Davis is a three-sport athlete at WFHS playing baseball and running track also.  The Black Hawks have had to rebuild their run game after three offensive linemen and two running backs from last year’s Open quarterfinal team not only graduated, but are playing Division I football.  In the second half, Williams Field was able to pop off some long runs (122 rushing yards in the second half).  Davis was a part of that as he had gains of 15, 19, and 24 yards to keep the chains moving.  The Black Hawks could settle on a tandem backfield with Davis and Romeo Jones (another junior).  Jones had a 17-yard touchdown and another long one (51 yards) called back due to a penalty.

Williams Field WR Boston Smith

You can’t make a bigger impact than to score a touchdown in your first varsity game.  That’s what Smith, a sophomore, did with a 12-yard scoring reception in the fourth quarter.  Smith played on the Black Hawks’ freshman team last year and moved into the starting lineup because of an injury to his older brother, Trey (an Arizona commit).  Trey is expected to practice all week and be on the field for next week’s game.  The younger Smith is already getting noticed by college programs as he holds an offer from San Diego State.

Williams Field WR Boston Smith

Williams Field QB Dom Barjona

Now in his third varsity season and second as the full-time starter, Barjona (pictured at the top of the article) set a career high with four touchdown passes (to four different receivers).  He was efficient and accurate (14-of-17) and threw for 221 yards.  Heading into this season, the 5-10, 170-pounder holds offers from a couple of Division II schools (Colorado Mesa and Western New Mexico).  In this game, Barjona was taking what the defensive was giving and while most of his passes were of the dink and dunk variety, he did unleash a strike to John Booker on a deeper route for a 31-yard score.  He also showed composure as two of the first four possessions ended with turnovers.

Williams Field WR John Booker

Booker, who also goes by “Buddha”, was an Honorable Mention All-Region last season after tallying 41 catches and 615 yards in his junior year.  He also had Campo Verde head coach Ryan Freeman’s attention after the game as Freeman gave accolades stating that Booker is “such an athletic young man when he gets the ball in space”.  Booker had three catches for 47 yards and a touchdown.  He can also be lethal on special teams.  Booker brought a punt back to the house (60 yards), but a penalty nullified it.  An excellent student (4.83 GPA!), he holds Ivy League offers from Brown, Cornell, and Penn.

Williams Field’s John Booker returns a punt for the Black Hawks.

Campo Verde QB Jonah Lubno

Defenses have to prepare for the Utah-committed quarterback of the Coyotes.  Lubno, a 6-3, 215-pound dual threat QB, accounted for 35 of the team’s 48 touchdowns scored last year (18 passing and 17 rushing).  On Friday night, he passed for two of Campo’s three TDs.  He gave the team confidence early as Campo Verde scored on its second possession (a 25-yard pass to senior Easton Bakutis) and showcased his scrambling ability on a second scoring pass to Marek Bradley (highlight further down).  With his size and mobility, the offensive staff can call play action or design runs for the quarterback.  Lubno had gains of 16 and nine yards with his first two carries.

Campo Verde QB Jonah Lubno looks downfield for a receiver. He finished the night 19-of-31 for 170 yards and completed passes to eight different receivers.

5 (non-scoring) plays that made a difference

  • On Campo Verde’s second possession of the game (midway through the first quarter), the Coyotes were forced to punt.  A bad snap over the head of the punter could’ve spelled disaster and given Williams Field great field position in a scoreless game.  However, a facemask penalty on the Black Hawks not only denied them the ball in the Campo red zone, it gave the home team a first down at the Williams Field 37-yard line.  The Coyotes cashed that opportunity in for points.
  • Trailing 7-0 late in the first quarter, the Black Hawks forced a fumble with CVHS inside of its own 20-yard line.  Yale commit MJ Glenn, a senior, recovered the ball at the Campo 13-yard line to set up a short field, which the Black Hawks took advantage of just one play later.
  • With the score tied at 14 in the second quarter, it was another special teams problem for Campo Verde.  Glenn was on the spot again blocking a punt and recovering it at the Coyotes’ 14-yard line.  No flags this time and Williams Field punched it in from there to give it a lead it would never relinquish the rest of the night.
  • In the third quarter, Campo Verde went for it on fourth-and-two and Marek Bradley delivered with a 10-yard run to the 4-yard line.  The Coyotes finished off that drive with their only touchdown of the second half.
  • Late in the third quarter, John Booker brought a punt back 60 yards for a score, but a roughing the punter penalty wiped it out.

5 key stats

  • The Williams Field defense held Campo to less than 4 yards per carry.  Impressive with such a mobile QB like Lubno.  With a couple of sacks included (rushing yards in HS), they limited him to just 18 yards on the ground.
  • Williams Field got its run game going in the second half.  After just 43 yards rushing in the first 24 minutes, the Black Hawks finished the night with 165 (122 in second half).
  • In the first quarter, Campo Verde outgained the visitors, 151-33.  However, the score was even at 7 due to the fumble recovery that set up a short field for WFHS.
  • Williams Field running back Christian Davis had 187 yards of total offense (99 receiving and 88 rushing).
  • Not a surprise for Week 1, but penalties were an issue for both teams – 100 yards for WF and 75 for CV.

Video highlights

Sports360AZ’s Jordan Spurgeon was on hand and has some clips from the game.  First here’s a package of the best of the game.

Next, here’s the play where Lubno pulled out his Houdini-like escape followed by a scramble and a nice diving catch by Bradley.

Finally, here’s Jordan’s Friday Night Notebook looking over what happened during the first two nights of this week’s schedule:  LINK.

Black Hawks 49, Coyotes 21

WFHS. . . . . 7  21  7  14 – 49
CVHS. . . . .  7   7   7    0  – 21

First Quarter

CV: Easton Bakutis 25 yard pass from Jonah Lubno (Jaxon Dearth kick), 3:24, 0-7
WF: Christian Davis 13 yard run (Braeden Elliott kick), 1:15, 7-7

Second Quarter

CV: Davin Rolle 40 yard interception return (Dearth kick), 10:17, 7-14
WF: Davis 80 yard pass from Dom Barjona (Elliott kick), 9:56, 14-14
WF: Matthew Craft 8 yard pass from Barjona (Elliott kick), 6:09, 21-14
WF: John Booker 31 yard pass from Barjona (Elliott kick), 2:09, 28-14

Third Quarter

WF: Romeo Jones 17 yard run (Elliott kick), 8:04, 35-14
CV: Marek Bradley 3 yard pass from Lubno (Dearth kick), 3:15, 35-21

Fourth Quarter

WF: Boston Smith 12 yard pass from Barjona (Elliott kick), 7:09, 42-21
WF: Damian Anguis 2 yard run (Elliott kick), 4:09, 49-21

Team Statistics

First Downs – WF: 14, CV 16.  Rushes-Yards – WF: 24-165, CV: 33-131.  Comp-Att-Int – WF: 14-17-1, CV: 19-32-1.  Passing Yards – WF: 221, CV: 170.  Total Yards – WF: 386, CV: 301.  Fumbles Lost –  WF: 1, CV: 1.  Penalties-Yards – WF: 10-100, CV: 9-75.

Individual Leaders

Passing – WF: Barjona 14-17-1, 221 yards, CV: Lubno 19-31-1, 170 yards.
Rushing – WF: Davis 10-88, Jones: 7-48, CV: Stickle 11-44, Walters 4-31, Bradley 7-30.
Receiving – WF: Davis 3-99, Booker 3-47, Smith 3-29, Gonzalez 2-26, CV: Bakutis 3-53, Bradley 3-30, Rolle 2-28, Stickle 5-27.

5 people I talked to after the game

Williams Field QB Dom Barjona on the depth of the receiving corps: “Trey (Smith) is a big piece of our offense, but at the end of the day, we still have four other dudes that can get it done.  Boston and Dere’yon (Gonzalez) had their first varsity starts.”

Campo Verde Head Coach Ryan Freeman: “We had a good thing going.  Then we had a bad snap.  They’re too good and too athletic to give them short fields.”

Williams Field RB Christian Davis on what makes this team special: “We’re all brothers.  I feel like we have a deep connection with each other.  I’m on offense, but I have a close relationship with my defense and that just makes us better as a team.”

Williams Field WR Boston Smith on what it was like to play in his first varsity game: “I was a little nervous, but as soon as that first play was over, I was like ‘Yeah, I got this’.”

Williams Field Head Coach Steve Campbell on something the team did in preparation this week that paid off in the game: “The idea of defensively knowing your assignment and why that was your assignment.  I think we played pretty good team defense.”

Next week

Williams Field (1-0) plays the second of what will be four straight road games to begin the season next Friday when they travel to Queen Creek (1-0).  The teams did not face one another last season, but even if they had, QCHS now has a new coaching staff.  Steve Huber got his first win in comeback fashion as junior Sawyer Hales had a pair of fourth-quarter TD passes in a 35-31 victory over Higley on Thursday night.  The Bulldogs trailed by 10 before the start of the final quarter.  Hales had a career night with 351 yards and five touchdown passes, so Campbell will have to get his secondary ready for that one.

Campo Verde (0-1) has a longer road trip as the Coyotes will head to Oro Valley to face Ironwood Ridge (1-0).  The Nighthawks have already equaled their win total from all of 2025 after pounding Catalina Foothills, 58-7 at home. Senior receiver Zarin Robbins had three touchdowns for IRHS.  Freeman said “they have a cool stadium and football environment”.  He also added, “We’ve just got to bounce back and be ready to go.”  Last year, the Coyotes hosted I-Ridge and defeated the Nighthawks 36-6 as Lubno ran for a pair of touchdowns and threw for two more.  The rematch will also be next Friday night.





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