Arizona High School Football Team Plays Road Game Without Coaching Staff...And Wins

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Officials realized during the game that Sierra Linda's freshman team did not have hip girdles. (The school said its first shipment of hip pads did not arrive until the following day.) After conferring with their superiors within the Arizona Interscholastic Association, officials stopped the game. As a result of that, Sierra Linda head coach Nate Gill was suspended.

Out of protest, the rest of Gill's coaching staff declined to coach that Friday's game.

But Sierra Linda still packed its team on the bus for their scheduled game at Yuma.

Parents were not informed that their sons had made the 3-hour trip from Phoenix to Yuma until the team had already left.

"I would like to inform you that the SLHS Varsity Football game in Yuma is still on schedule and the team departed at approximately 1:30 p.m.," SLHS principal Tim Madrid said in an email to parents. "Unfortunately, our SLHS coaches decided they were not going to accompany the team on this trip. Consequently, we had to scramble to find certified, highly qualified and authorized coaches to substitute in their place.

"I apologize for the late notice as we were still unsure we could make this happen. We did not want our players to miss out on the opportunity to play in the game and we sent 99% of the team."

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So our boys won 23-21 coaching themselves calling their own offensive and defensive plays," a parent texted. "Parents, coaches and the community are so extremely proud of what these young men accomplished Friday night and also so far this season.


"And it only speaks to the culture coach Gill and his staff have patiently groomed into the program and these boys the last few years."

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