Chandler dominates Queen Creek
Coming off a 22-point loss to California-based Centennial, Chandler was hungry to prove itself in front of its fans. In its home opener, the 6A defending champions did just that. Chandler took the win over Queen Creek 49-21 on Friday.
It was close on paper for much of the night until Chandler fully erupted late in the game. Still, the team looked dominant throughout. The win boiled down to two things: a consistent run game headlined by DeCarlos Brooks that wore down Queen Creek, as well as sprinkling in explosive plays, often via twoway player Gunner Maldonado.
Relying on the run game
Chandler found success on the ground early and stuck with it. Brooks, the senior running back, finished the night with 212 yards rushing. He found the end zone three times.
And Brooks wasn’t the only weapon coming out of the backfield. Junior running back Jaheim BrownTaylor saw an increased workload in the second half. He had 76 yards and two touchdowns of his own.
“We needed to run the football, and we wanted to do that from the beginning of the game,” Chandler coach Shaun Aguano said. “DeCarlos (Brooks) just imposed his will.”
While Chandler had a number of offensive weapons, the team returned to Brooks time and time again. All in all, he had 26 carries. Even when the game plan became somewhat obvious, Queen Creek still couldn’t stop the 5-11 back.
“I just saw holes,” Brooks said. “The offensive line made a lot of holes for me. I’m glad that they did; they always do that in practice and games, so shout out to them. I just need to make one cut and one bad miss, and then it’s touchdowns. So that’s all I’ve got to do.”
Maldonado explosive at both ends
Lining up at both strong safety and receiver, Maldonado gave Queen Creek problems all night.
While Brooks provided consistency, Maldonado added some big plays. He finished the night with 186 yards on seven receptions.
Maldonado is Aguano’s first true two-way player in seven years of coaching. While this was his first week on offense, it didn’t show. He had two explosive touchdowns of his own. Quarterback Jacob Conover found him once for 71 yards in the first quarter and another time for 42 yards in the fourth.
While he certainly shined on offense, Maldonado did not forget his defense roots. He added an interception to an already loaded stat sheet, giving Chandler the ball back with 1:27 left in the third quarter. While the team was unable to capitalize off that turnover, they did manage to eat up more than five minutes off the game clock.
“He’s a big time player, and that helped us out a lot,” Aguano said. “He’s just an incredible athlete, and very, very intelligent.”