Yuma County teams sharpen skills at Gila Ridge 7-on-7 event

Gila Ridge’s June 7-on-7 work put four Yuma County programs in the same space with the same goal: sort out roles, sharpen timing and see which players could handle a faster pace before pads come on. San Pasqual, Cibola and Kofa joined the Hawks on campus as the summer clock kept ticking toward the official start of football practice.

For Gila Ridge head coach Jessica Slaughter, the value was not in the scorebook. She was looking for aggressiveness, effort and purpose in routes and coverage, a reminder that even low-contact summer work can expose which players are ready to carry bigger responsibilities. Senior Nohea Wiggins said it felt good to return to the field and get into repetition, while junior Daughtry Phillips is adjusting to a new role after previously playing cornerback and said it was nice to get back out there and try to make plays in a different position.

That matters more for Gila Ridge than a casual summer workout might suggest. The Hawks finished 5-5 overall and 3-1 in region play in 2024, and KYMA described the 2025 team as one that brought back much of its defense. This year’s 7-on-7s offered a first look at how that foundation might hold up with a new core group of players and new combinations in the back end and at receiver.

The same week showed how active the local football calendar had become. San Pasqual hosted a summer 7-on-7 competition and lineman challenge on June 13 that began at 8 a.m. and drew Gila Ridge, Kofa, Somerton, Desert Star Academy of Fort Mohave and other programs. Gila Ridge beat Desert Star Academy in the championship game, then turned around and used its own workout to continue building chemistry against San Pasqual, Cibola and Kofa.

The results from June do show something real: which teams are organized, which athletes understand their assignments and which coaches are finding answers early. They do not show everything. Arizona Interscholastic Association rules require heat-acclimatization during pre-competition practice, limit teams to one preseason varsity scrimmage and set football practice for 2A-6A programs to begin Monday, July 27, 2026. Until then, 7-on-7s are the bridge between offseason training and the first full view of who can contend when the fall season starts for real.

Slaughter’s presence gives Gila Ridge’s summer work added weight. Hired in June 2021, she was reported at the time to be the third female varsity football coach in Arizona history and the first female varsity head football coach in Yuma. That history, paired with another summer of local matchups at Gila Ridge, keeps the Hawks at the center of Yuma County football’s early-season conversation.