Comebacks, upsets, wild finishes highlight 1st round
There were thrill rides, incredible comebacks, shocking finishes — and it was just the first round of the Arizona high school football playoffs in the 6A, 5A and 4A tournaments. How can this be topped? We’ll find out next Friday when the Open Division begins its quarterfinal round and the three big-school conferences get into quarterfinal action.
Let’s wind back Friday and look ahead:
What we learned
What the Open has done is open it up for the big conferences not to have first-round blowouts across the brackets. There are going to be your 40-point wins, but not as many, and there were upsets in 6A, 5A and 4A.
No. 14 Mesa shocked No. 3 Tempe Corona del Sol 24-21 in 6A. No. 11 Brophy Prep jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter only to see No. 6 Mesa Red Mountain rally for a 45-38 win. No. 10 Gilbert Williams Field took No. 7 Tucson Salpointe Catholic into two overtimes before losing 36-33. No. 8 Phoenix Mountain Pointe held off the relentless No. 9 Mountain Ridge rally, led by quarterback Brendan Anderson and wide receiver Terrance Hall, stopping a twopoint try in the end, to move on with a 42-41 win.
In 5A, No. 10 Goodyear Millennium rode the clockeating Zues Pindernation and defeated No. 7 Gilbert Campo Verde 17-10.
And in 4A, where do we start?
No. 13 Lake Havasu stunned No. 4 San Tan Valley Poston Butte 42-24, No. 14 Phoenix Thunderbird upended No. 3 Tempe Marcos de Niza 17-14, No. 10 Prescott shocked No. 7 Apache Junction 35-28, and No. 11 Phoenix St. Mary’s came a yard short of a first down deep in No. 6 Oro Canyon del Oro territory late in the game and fell 13-7.
With the Arizona Interscholastic Association taking the top seven teams in 6A into the Open, it is allowing for more parity in the 6A Conference, which you might see even more in the quarters. Salpointe at No. 2 Gilbert Highland could be a classic.
Biggest takeaway
There are so many clutch performers in this state. The 32-yard catch in the end zone by Hall on a perfect pass from Anderson to get to within 42-41 of Mountain Pointe in the final minute was amazing. Ja’Kobi Lane’s one-handed stabbing grab in the corner of the end zone on a great throw by Carter Crispin, somehow keeping one toe in bounds while a Brophy defender drove into him, is one of the greatest catches you’ll see at any level.
Lane was clutch on a few of Red Mountain’s big, momentum-swinging drives after getting down 17-0. And he wasn’t even the player of the game for Red Mountain. That was running back Lenox Lawson, who ran for 232 yards and three TDs on 23 carries and caught five passes for 65 yards on offense; and linebacker Champ Gennicks’ 18 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on defense.
Greatest parity
Once again, as I’ve mentioned all year, it’s in 4A, and it didn’t need a team to bump into the Open. Part of the reason is because of the AIA’s promotion/demotion alignment of conferences after each football season. Glendale Cactus and American Leadership Queen Creek, both Open teams last year, moved out of 4A and into 5A this season. No. 1 American Leadership Gilbert North had the only true blowout, a 48-10 drubbing of No. 16 Chandler Arizona College Prep.
And even with senior QB Richard Stallworth, the state’s all-time passing leader, throwing for 518 yards and seven TDs without an interception, it was no cakewalk for Yuma Catholic in a 56-42 win over No. 12 Buckeye Union.
Thunderbird’s win over Marcos de Niza might have been the most surprising. This was Thunderbird’s first playoff appearance since 2013 and first playoff win since 2012.
“It was a total team effort on defense, led by free safety Nate Godoy, who got his fifth Interception of the season,” Titans coach Matthew Nalette said.
Marzhaun Arnold broke up a fourth-down pass to seal the game in the final minute. QB Carter Squires was 15 of 24 for 266 yards passing for Thunderbird, which now plays at Canyon del Oro.
Biggest derail
No. 4 Glendale Cactus was set to host No. 13 Surprise Willow Canyon in a 5A first-round game. But not in the dark. Due to a power outage, the game had to be moved. They all left, even the YurView trucks, for Glendale Ironwood. But same problem. No lights. At last, Glendale Apollo’s lights came on for the game to be played there, and an hour-and-a-half after the game was scheduled to start, it was on. Cactus outlasted Willow Canyon 21-14 late into the night.
This was Brian Belles’ first playoff win as a head coach.
“Having to move the game sites because a fuse blew and our lights did not turn on made it a chaotic evening,” Belles said.
Belles felt the closer-than-expected game was “wake-up call for our team.”
“We didn’t play a very clean game and made a ton of mistakes,” Belles said. “But credit to Willow Canyon for being ready to play. I think we may have had a letdown after a physical region championship game versus Desert Edge a week ago.”
Dom Solano led a tough defense with 14 tackles, four tackles for losses and three sacks. Next up is defending 5A champion Horizon, which breezed through Gilbert 49-0 after taking a 42-0 first-half lead.
Best statement
All three Tucson-area teams that made the bigschool playoffs won: Salpointe Catholic (beating Williams Field for the second time this season, this time 36-33), 5A Marana (26-17 over Phoenix Sunnyslope) and 4A Canyon del Oro (13-7 over St. Mary’s). Canyon del Oro, which lost six key players during the season due to a district policy violation, might have the easiest road to the Dec. 9 championship game at Sun Devil Stadium. The Dorados get to host the quarterfinal against Thunderbird. Win that, they face the winner of Prescott-Snowflake in the semifinals.
Some Southern Arizona teams might be hurting for being left out of the playoffs, but the three that made it are still standing and can feel proud about representing their community.