Saguaro’s clutch plays end Chandler reign
In the glow of the Sun Devil Stadium lights, Scottsdale Saguaro coach Jason Mohns stepped out of the celebration pack at midfield and, smiling ear to ear, asked, “Did this really happen?”
Yes, Saguaro is state high school football champions at the highest level for the first time. The Open Division.
It came a year after Saguaro had its season end on Thanksgiving Day because of COVID-19 the day before it was to play in the Open, and it went through what Mohns called “the blue bloods of Arizona” -- Chandler and Hamilton -while playing the underdog role as a No. 5 seed.
There were so many incredible plays, clutch performances, big stops, and memories that will last long after Saguaro stopped Chandler’s dynasty with a 20-15 victory Saturday night in a game that showed how big and how exciting the Open Division playoffs have become in Arizona.
“Beating Hamilton and Chandler back-to-back,” Mohns said. “Don’t forget, we’re a 4A (enrollment) school. People forget about that sometimes. But we just took down the blue bloods of Arizona in back-to-back weeks, and I’m pretty damn proud.”
Saguaro had become so dominant in its collection of six gold footballs in a row, most of those coming in the 4A ranks, that the Sabercats were elevated last year to 5A, based on their success with the Arizona Interscholastic Association moving teams in conferences every year based on success.
With this, there’s no doubt Saguaro’s next move is to 6A.
“What a storybook season for us, I can’t even believe it,” Mohns said.
It was a surreal playoff run for junior quarterback Devon Dampier, who was given the keys to offense at the start of the Open and ran with it. Literally, He sliced through Glendale Cactus’ fast, tough defense. He ran for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns, showing off spin moves to create yards on his own, in a 31-24 semifinal win over a Hamilton team that was ranked No. 11 in the country at the time.
Then, he showed off his arm in the win over Chandler, finding Javen Jacobs for a 24-yard touchdown with 17 seconds left in the half to give the Sabercats (12-1) a 14-12 lead.
With 4:25 to play in the game, Dampier found wide-open tailback Jaedon Matthews, a sophomore, over the middle for a 45-yard that proved to be the game winner.
“They didn’t see me,” Matthews said. “I was too fast.”
But it wasn’t until two-way senior Junius Marsh’s interception on a deep pass by Blaine Hipa with 2:40 left that the Sabercats could sense this night truly belonged to them.
Dampier led Saguaro to one more first down before going into victory formation and set off a celebration.
Chandler (11-2) had its 45-game winning streak end by Chandler Hamilton in the regular-season finale. Now, Chandler had its five-year run of state titles, the last two in the Open Division, come to an end.
“They were better than us tonight, the long and the short of it,” said Chandler coach Rick Garretson, who is 34-2 as head coach since taking over from Shaun Aguano before the Open era began.
Saguaro was the only 5A team that entered the Open this year. There were five 6A teams and two 4A teams. And, in the end, the Sabercats proved they could take their game to the top level and come home champions. Two years ago, in the first year of the Open, they got into a 21-0 first-quarter hole against Chandler, before making a game of it late in a 42-35 loss.
“I told our guys that it wasn’t that long ago that nobody thought we could play with any 6A team, let alone Chandler and Hamilton,” Mohns said. “I’m talking three or four years ago, people didn’t think we belonged.
“We had a chip on our shoulder. Not just players or coaches. But as a school community, we believe in ourselves and the brand of football that we play. We have talent and we’ve been able to build our depth. And we work our tails off.”
It was the first time Chandler lost a playoff game since 2015, when Mesa
Desert Ridge beat Chandler in the state semifinals.
Saguaro, even with its 4A enrollment, knew it had the talent to compete with the best in Arizona. But to break through, it took two of the biggest wins in school history in back-to-back weeks, beating both Hamilton and Chandler for the first time.
“Tremendous effort,” Mohns said. “I love this team. We probably had teams that were more talented. I don’t know if we had one that was grittier. It makes it fun to show up and coach every day.”
After surviving a six-turnover game in an overtime win last week against Liberty, Chandler (11-2) made its first turnover Saturday with 1:33 to play in the first half when Thomas DeChesaro picked off Hipa’s pass.
Hipa was able to make big plays in the last minute of regulation and overtime to overcome Liberty 27-21 in a semifinal thriller.
Not this time.
Marsh read Hipa’s pass all the way for the game-clinching interception.
“I knew it was coming my way,” Marsh said. “I just had to make the play.”
For Dampier, these last three weeks have been surreal, the stuff of dreams.
He wasn’t given the starting job until the eight-team playoffs began. Because he had transferred from Phoenix Pinnacle, he had to sit out the first five games, abiding by the AIA transfer bylaw.
No problem. He worked hard and patiently with Saguaro until his time came. When he became eligible, Mohns gradually worked him in with senior cocaptain Ridge Docekal still the starter. Docekal ended up making first-team allregion. But when the big-boy bracket came out, Mohns knew to put his team in position to beat the best, he had to turn Dampier loose, because of his tremendous atmosphere.
He was electric.
Against Chandler, he threw two TD passes, but mostly hurt Chandler with his legs, especially on Saguaro’s first series of the game. He ran five times for 53 yards, leading to Jacobs’ 12-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep for a TD.
Dampier was 12 of 17 passing for 156 yards, making clutch throws to Jacobs and even Tristan Monday, who moved over from defensive end to help out the offense at tight end in the second half.
But it was Dampier’s ability to elude defenders, make fakes, creating with pirouettes, spin moves that had the Wolves, like Hamilton, grasping at air.
He had 129 yards rushing on 22 carries, and that was his net yardage. He was dragged down for a 16-yard loss in the second half when it appeared Chandler had him figured out.
“Everybody here tonight saw that he’s a dynamic playmaker,” Mohns said. “The thing that makes him so special, he’s such a natural, charismatic leader. He let’s stuff roll off his back and he makes the next play.”
After an interception on a high pass that went off a receiver’s finger tips in the second quarter, his team railing 12-7, Dampier bounced back and the end of the half with a 34-yard pass to Monday, before finding Jacobs in stride in the end zone from 24 yards out to give Saguaro back the lead at the break.
That scoring drive came after Thomas DeCesaro intercepted a Hipa pass at Saguaro’s 38.
“He never got flustered,” Mohns said. “He got frustrated but he never got flustered. He’s just a playmaker. He’s s competitor. You want to roll with guys like that. You put the ball in their hands and make plays. You can go two or three series without making a play. But you know that dude’s going to make a play sooner or later, and he did.”
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