FOOTBALL REWIND
With unexpected blowouts and clutch performances, the Arizona high school football quarterfinals had it all.
Biggest takeaway
Scottsdale Saguaro and Tucson Salpointe Catholic – teams that lead 4A – dominated on the biggest stage, rolling through their first Open games. Saguaro ran past 5A Phoenix Horizon 49-3, and Salpointe stormed through 6A Phoenix Pinnacle 48-10. Saguaro coach Jason Mohns says he feels like his team is peaking now. On defense, linebacker Braxen Tessler had a night to remember with seven tackles, three pass breakups, a blocked punt and an interception returned for a touchdown. Salpointe’s win sets up maybe the best runningback matchup ever seen in Arizona – Salpointe’s Bijan Robinson against Chandler’s Dae Dae Hunter. Both have been incredible in their own ways this season. Robinson, now at an Arizona all-time-high 113 touchdowns, owns just about every state rushing record. Hunter has been a human highlight reel, darting around, through, over defenders with moves seldom seen on the high school level. Saguaro’s defense has been the story in the last half of the season, dominating at the line and in the secondary. Both Saguaro and Salpointe faced teams that didn’t have the quarterback (Pinnacle’s J.D. Johnson, Horizon’s Jake Martinelli) who got them to the Open. Those guys might have made the games more competitive, but not necessarily changed the results.
Biggest surprise
Three of the four Open quarterfinals were blowouts. Who would have figured when the Arizona Interscholastic Association configured all the data to get the eight best teams in the Open that scores would be lopsided? The Open was supposed to create suspenseful, downto-the-wire matchups in every game. That includes No. 1 Chandler’s 56-14 rout of No. 8 Scottsdale Chaparral. It doesn’t mean that three other teams would have made the games better, but a human element might be needed to get the right eight into the Open moving forward, if the AIA chooses to continue with the playoff. A committee, not a computer, could have told you that Pinnacle and Horizon took huge hits late in the season losing their quarterbacks. A committee also could have told you that Mesa Red Mountain, despite playing in a weaker region against struggling Mesa schools, belonged in the Open all along. And that Williams Field and Notre Dame Prep were better equipped for the Open than Horizon and Chaparral. But this still was a huge victory for the teams that lost their Open games, because they worked hard to earn the coveted spots and will be able to say that they were a part of Arizona high school sports history.
Biggest heart
Phoenix Desert Vista senior Parker Navarro left everything out on the field and then some in a dramatic 70-63, 6A quarterfinal win over Gilbert Perry. He had to, because Perry senior QB Chubba Purdy was on a mission. The quarterbacks accounted for 16 total touchdowns, eight each. Purdy will move on to Louisville with a football scholarship. Navarro still is waiting for that big Division I offer. Navarro threw seven TD passes including a 63-yarder to Elijah Ervin with less than five minutes to play to tie the score. After Desert Vista recovered a fumble, Navarro drove downfield and ultimately scored the game-winner with 19 seconds left on a 5yard run. With running backs Tyson and Devon Grubbs out for a while with late injuries and Colby Humphrey out with an injury, Desert Vista’s offense ran through the passing tandem of Navarro and Ervin. They kept clicking Friday, hooking up three times for TDs, including a 56-yarder. Navarro has been working hard to keep Desert Vista’s season alive. He is way under the radar in college recruiting, but coach Dan Hinds wouldn’t trade him for anybody because of the heart he displays every Friday night.
Hinds’ biggest takeaways from getting through Perry? “Attacking the process. Putting four quarters together. Strong brotherhood.”
Biggest kick
Matt Alcerreca kicked Goodyear Desert Edge into the 4A semifinals with a 22-yard field goal as time expired to beat Casa Grande 24-21. Desert Edge comes away feeling fortunate to still be playing. The Scorpions beat a surging Casa Grande team that dominated offensively and led most of the game, behind sophomore quarterback Angel Flores, who had more than 100 passing yards and 100 rushing yards. Casa Grande was one of the hottest teams in the 4A bracket, beating Oro Valley Canyon del Oro 19-17 in the final week of the regular season to get into the playoffs. Then, the Cougars beat Sahuarita Walden Grove for the second time this year in the first round (Walden Grove’s only two losses this season). The Cougars’ defense forced sophomore QB Adryan Lara into one of his worst games statistically. But Desert Edge, getting a couple of key interceptions, found a way to stay alive.
“Hats off to Casa Grande,” Desert Edge coach Jose Lucero said. “I was proud of how our kids kept their composure and took it one play at a time to get back in the game and win it.”
Biggest statement
Chandler (11-0) had something to prove, mainly on defense, after giving up 38 points to Hamilton two weeks ago. The Wolves derailed one of the state’s hotter quarterbacks down the stretch, intercepting Ohio State commit Jack Miller four times, two by Gunner Maldonado, who returned one for a touchdown. Jeremiah Tyler also returned an interception for a score, as the Wolves gave up a late TD in an otherwise dominant performance. Miller was pressured all night. Chandler also blocked a punt for a safety. Meanwhile, there is no letting up offensively, as the Wolves carved out 512 yards.
Wildest finish
Tempe Marcos de Niza was about to take a two-possession lead in the final quarter, driving to inside Gilbert Mesquite’s 10-yard line with a 26-21 lead. But a goal-line stand set up Mesquite’s winning drive, led by junior QB Ty Thompson, who faked a handoff and ran up the gut of Marcos de Niza’s defense for a 38-yard touchdown to give his team a 27-26, 4A quarterfinal victory. It made up for the third-quarter interception that led to a long TD run by Yakeen Baylis for Marcos de Niza’s 26-14 lead.
Best resiliency
Phoenix Northwest Christian and Yuma Catholic know how to create playoff drama. The teams get each other’s best when they meet, and Northwest Christian’s 37-34, comeback win in the 3A quarterfinals was no different. Last year, in the state championship game, the teams were locked up for three overtimes before Northwest Christian won it 40-37. Friday’s quarterfinal was another thriller. Northwest Christian coach David Inness called it a “crazy, crazy game.” The Crusaders trailed 28-17 midway through the final quarter, before QB Easton Meier hooked up three times with Cameron Adams to move Northwest Christian into a semifinal against American Leadership Queen Creek and its potent offense. Meier threw for 221 yards and four TDs.
Best atmosphere
The Open brought out the fans in droves. There was an overflow crowd at Peoria Centennial, where Hamilton continued its magical season with a 28-19 victory (the only close game among the four Open quarters, even though it felt like Centennial dominated throughout). Both sides were packed at Saguaro’s large stadium. There also was an overflow crowd at Salpointe, where coach Dennis Bene described it as “the biggest crowd in maybe 20 years.” Bene called the student section “unreal. It was just a great high school atmosphere.” This was exactly what the AIA was hoping for.