Marana High School football wide receiver, Dezmen Roebuck, who broke records and helped lead the Tigers to a perfect regular season, was presented with the Ed Doherty Award today.
The prestigious award is the state’s high school version of the Heisman Award.
During his decades-long coaching career, Ed Doherty served as the head football coach at both the University of Arizona and Arizona State University.
He was also the head coach at St. Mary’s High School in Phoenix before coaching and serving as Athletic Director at Salpointe.
Roebuck is the first Marana High School player to win the award. He is also the first Tucson-area player to win it since Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson last won it in 2019 while at Salpointe.
Since it was first presented in 1987, nine Southern Arizona players have won it.
Players from Southern Arizona who have won the award:
- Eric Drage, Santa Rita, 1988
- Mike Ciasca, Sahuaro, 1989
- Mario Bates, Amphi, 1990
- Kevin Schmidtke, Marana Mountain View, 1993
- Adam Hall, Palo Verde, 2008
- Ka’Deem Carey, CDO, 2011
- Tyler Williams, Ironwood Ridge, 2012
- Bijan Robinson, Salpointe, 2018/2019
- Dezmen Roebuck, Marana, 2024
“It (winning award) didn’t feel real at first,” Roebuck said. “Growing up in Marana, it’s a small town so nobody really knew about it when I first came here.”
But this past season, Roebuck and his teammates made sure the rest of the state knew who they were.
The Tigers went 10-0 in the regular season and earned the number one seed in the Open Division playoffs. The Tigers lost 31-22 to the Hamilton Huskies in the quarterfinals of the open division playoffs.
During this past season, Roebuck set a state record of 352 career receptions. In 2023, he set the state’s season receptions record of 121. He also finished number two all-time in the state in career receiving yards, with 4,239.
“Just to do this for this school, this town, this community, it means a lot to me,” the two-way player said.
“He’s one of one,” his football coach, Phillip Steward, said. “There’s not a lot of kids that are walking around the state of Arizona right now that possess the skill set that he does.”
Steward has been the team’s head coach since Roebuck’s freshman year and has seen him grow and chase after his dream.
“He had a goal, he had a dream and he wanted to get there, so watching him go through that journey to get to where he’s going now is just special,” Steward explained.
Roebuck is now walking in the shoes of the athletes he’s grown up watching.
“Growing up, I looked up to those guys – Bijan Robison, Lathan Ransom, Trenton Bourguet,” he said. “I was that kid on the sideline running around asking for pictures and stuff. So for me to be that guy now, it means a lot.”
He shared some advice for younger athletes: “Keep God first, make sure you’re hanging around the right group of people – that’s another big thing, and just keep your head down and work hard.”
Roebuck will continue his football career at the University of Washington, playing under former U of A Head Coach Jedd Fisch.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
