Seen and heard from Saturday's Arizona-Washington football game, according to Arizona Daily Star reporter Justin Spears:
Salpointe grad Matteo Mele gets his shot
Washington center Matteo Mele (78), left (a product of Salpointe Catholic High School in Tucson), and offensive lineman Luke Wattenberg (76) double team Arizona defensive lineman Myles Tapusoa (99) at Arizona Stadium on Oct. 12, 2019.
The last time Matteo Mele played a snap at Arizona Stadium, his Salpointe Catholic team fell to Scottsdale Saguaro in the 2017 Class 4A state championship game.
Mele, now at Washington, made his first college start at center in Saturday night’s game against the Arizona Wildcats. The 6-foot-5-inch, 305-pound Mele started in place of injured senior Nick Harris.
Mele chose Washington over the UA, ASU, Colorado, Oklahoma, Oregon, UCLA and Cal, among other schools, despite his connection to the Wildcats. Mele’s grandfather, Bill Lueck, was a former all-conference offensive lineman for the UA who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in 1968.
Five Southern Arizona high school products played Saturday night: Mele, UA punter Matt Aragon (Cienega) and Arizona wide receivers Stanley Berryhill (Mountain View), Jamarye Joiner (Cienega) and Drew Dixon (Sabino).
Honorary captain
Peter and Nancy Salter
UA alumnus and donor Peter Salter was the Wildcats’ honorary team captain Saturday.
Salter, a 1965 UA grad, founded Salter Labs, a global manufacturer for respiratory products. In December 2018, Salter and his wife Nancy donated $1.5 million to fund a biomedical instrument studio at the UA College of Engineering.
Sumlin sketch
ITS GAME DAY!! Who’s ready🏈🐻⬇️ #gameposter pic.twitter.com/7xYR7DBgTL
— 🐻⬇️ Mom (@vailtrackclub) October 12, 2019
Joiner’s family never misses a home game. His dad, Alton Frazier, dressed up as Captain America for a home game earlier this season and earned screen time on the video board at Arizona Stadium. Saturday, Frazier sketched a portrait of Sumlin, wearing a red shirt and white visor and holding a gold can of “Sum Whoop A--.” The caption? “Get Sum”
Frazier — and his artwork — was shown on the video board during the first quarter.
Frazier “was gifted and talented in art in high school,” said Christina Peña, Frazier’s wife and Joiner’s mom. “Now he just draws for fun,”
Joiner saw the sign before the game and tweeted “My parents got too much time on their hands.”
UA commit, Vegas standouts visit
West Coast Weekend Visit Preview: This is one of the biggest recruiting weekends of the year so far, here's a closer look at where some of the top players out West are headed https://t.co/aGZcA5jHRH pic.twitter.com/FBqwe1LgDt
— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) October 11, 2019
Arizona had a handful of visitors for the game on Saturday, including 2020 commit Khary Crump. The three-star recruit committed to the Wildcats in April and is rated as the No. 139 cornerback for the 2020 recruiting class. Listed at 5-foot-11 and 175- pounds, the Culver City, California, native is currently the third defensive commit for the UA and is in his final season at Culver City High School.
Crump was joined by other prospects. Per 247Sports.com’s Greg Biggins, Las Vegas Desert Pine High School defensive end Jonathan Picket, linebacker Elijah Wade, defensive end Gabriel Lopez, defensive tackle Braezhon Ross, offensive lineman Tiaoalii Savea, wide receiver Michael Jackson and running back Jovantae BarnesBurns were among the visitors. Wade committed to UCLA in January, while the others are uncommitted.
Other Las Vegas visitors were Bishop Gorman freshman wide receiver Zachariah Branch and his older brother, sophomore safety Zion Branch. The Branch brothers share the same offers to Utah, UNLV and Auburn. Arizona running backs coach DeMarco Murray is a Las Vegas native who attended Bishop Gorman.
Ex-Cats heading to the XFL?
Gerhard de Beer has battled injuries for much of his senior season, but is expected to play at right tackle on Saturday.
The XFL is relaunching, and the league’s draft is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
The draft pool includes a handful of former Wildcats, including offensive linemen Gerhard de Beer, Steven Gurrola and Lene Maiava and defensive lineman Larry Tharpe Jr. De Beer was released by the Packers prior to this season. Gurrola, center for the 2014 Fiesta Bowl team, has played for the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League.
Tucson native and former Cienega wide receiver Edgar Poe is also part of the draft pool. Poe played collegiately at Army.
They said it
Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate squeezes his way out of the pocket to avoid the Washington rush in the second quarter of Saturday’s game.
“No one on the field is as fast as Tate on the ground and he can make defenders miss at ease. … He has the 35th-ranked adjusted completion percentage to boot and as he continues to play at a healthy level, there may be no stopping him as he’s approaching overall grade levels he saw during his Heisman candidacy season of 2017.”
— Pro Football Focus on Khalil Tate, who is No. 8 on its latest college football quarterback rankings.
