azcentral sports| Arizona Republic
Open rankings shake-up: Higley downs Desert Mountain
By Dylan Ackermann
Arizona's high school football rankings were rattled Friday night, as Scottsdale Desert Mountain, the No. 1 team in 5A and this week's No. 4 in the AIA's Open Division playoff rankings, fell to Gilbert Higley (No. 4 in 5A) in a rout, 58-21.
Higley, the defending 5A champions, were sharp on both sides of the ball on the Wolves' home field, but its offense was overwhelming behind sophom*ore quarterback Gunner fa*grell, who threw for five touchdowns in a game played at Desert Mountain High School.
Standout Performers
The Knights' defensive unit allowed an opening drive touchdown, but clamped down on the Wolves' offense after that. Senior cornerback Nijrell Eason II and junior middle linebacker Jayden Olcott both picked off passes from Desert Mountain's senior quarterback, Brady Mcdonough, early in the first half.
The defensive effort continued in the third quarter, forcing a fumble on a kick return that directly resulted in a touchdown for the offense, giving the Knights a three-score advantage. Junior middle linebacker Boston Hilton had two sacks, bringing his season total to eight alongw with 66 tackles.
Scoring-wise, the Knights' wide receivers, Taveon Sueing and Jaden Taylor, each posted two touchdowns, but running back Daxen Hall stole the show with four, boosting his total to 17 rushing touchdowns this season.
Key Plays:
On the very first drive of the game, Desert Mountain senior 3-star quarterback Brady Mcdonough kicked things off in style, launching a 55-yard pass to senior wide receiver Dylan Tapley.
Higley's senior running back, Daxen Hall, scored on a 25-yard touchdown after a previous score of his was called back.
fa*grell connected with senior wide receiver Kaden Millner for deep completions on consecutive drives, positioning their team in the red zone, each time capped by Jaden Taylor receiving touchdowns.
To seal the deal, fa*grell executed a perfect back-shoulder throw, a textbook example of precision. Junior Ezy Brown made the reception, resulting in a touchdown that left no doubt.
Quotes of the Game:
“This is a big momentum swinger for our team,” fa*grell said. “We really rallied together and tonight was a big team together moment, but we just got to keep working.”
“We’re resilient,” Higley head coach Eddy Zubey said about what this win proves about his squad. “We knew we had some things we needed to get better on, but it’s really just resiliency.”
Up next
Next Friday at 7 p.m., both teams gear up for their regular season finales as Higley (7-2) remains on the road, taking on Notre Dame Prep, while Desert Mountain (8-1) travels to Williams Field.
Chandler rolls over Perry
By Eliya Herriott
Chandler traveled to Perry for a big 6A battle. The Wolves came out the gate hot and controlled every aspect of the game, from start to finish, to win the game 49-7.
The Wolves defense held strong throughout the night. Multiple players got involved on defense and veteran players such as Jeremiah Young lead the way upfront.
Key playmakers
On the first drive of the game, Chandler’s Jaxon Branch capped it off with an 18-yard reception from quarterback Blake Heffron. Branch had two touchdown receptions in the first half for the Wolves.
Heffron does it all for Chandler. The senior quarterback looked composed and made the right reads. Heffron ended the game with two touchdown passes and he showed off his quickness with a 3-yard rushing touchdown.
Chandler running back, Ca’lil Valentine was a force in the backfield and could not be stopped. Valentine contributed two rushing touchdowns, including a 65-run to the house.
Key play
Chandler’s defense was disruptive all night. The Wolves limited the Pumas opportunities offensively and held Perry to seven points.
Jojo Taylor III, of Chandler, had a key interception in the second quarter which later led to a Chandler touchdown. The interception made it a three score game, 28-7, which would be the score at halftime.
Taylor’s second interception of the night came with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Quotes of the game
“The mindset going into this game was honestly to run the ball,” Heffron said.
“Our defense played in a tight battle against Basha’s great moving offense with Demond Williams (last week) and all those guys,” Heffron said. “It was kind of a learning experience I would say it’s never a loss it’s always a learning experience and we learned from it, we got better and we came out today and we shut Perry out.”
Up next
Chandler (7-2) remains very much in the Open Division playoff picture. The Wolves close the regular season against rival Hamilton on Nov. 3 Perry (7-2), which was ranked No. 12 in 6A coming into the game, will look to bounce back at Basha, which entered Friday ranked No. 3 overall by the AIA.
Salpointe Catholic uses big 2Q, spoils Saguaro’s homecoming
By Anthony Perez
For Tucson Salpointe Catholic (8-1), Friday night’s game at Scottsdale Saguaro (4-5) appeared to have a simple formula for success: go on an offensive tear and then lock the game down with defense. And it was a formula that they made look effortless as they spoiled Saguaro’s homecoming by picking up a 21-14 victory.
Standout performers
Salpointe’s second quarter was all about senior quarterback Taylor Nagore. He opened the scoring for the visitors on Friday night by connecting with Nathan Spivey on a long pass to tie the game up in the opening moments of the second quarter. Just under five minutes later he gave Salpointe its first lead of the game when he snuck into the end zone from a yard out. Then, with 2:27 left in the first half, he added to the lead with another rushing touchdown, this time from around midfield.
Saguaro’s lone response to Salpointe’s offensive onslaught that quarter was a 30-yard pass to junior receiver Mason Whitaker from senior quarterback Mason Bray that was Bray’s 14th touchdown pass of the season. Bray also eclipsed the 1,400 pass yards mark in the contest.
Highlight of the game
With Saguaro driving and searching for a touchdown to tie the game back up, a pass from Bray found the arms of Spivey. While Salpointe was unable to extend its lead off the turnover, it was one of many defensive gems made by Salpointe that shut down Saguaro’s offense in the second half and made the 21-14 lead that they had at halftime stand up.
Quote of the game
“We take a lot of pride in our defense. As they say, defense wins championships. Well, defense won us this game, and we take a lot of pride in it. Our coaches, everybody, they take a lot of pride in it.” —Salpointe Catholic senior Nathan Spivey on how his team’s defense was a key to victory and how it’s been a key to success this season
Up next
Both teams conclude their regular seasons next Friday. Salpointe travels back to the Valley to play Phoenix Brophy Prep, while Saguaro hosts Phoenix Pinnacle
Central makes case for 5A playoff spot
By Howard Schlossberg
Don't tell Central (8-1) they're a 5A playoff bubble team.
They sent the AIA a message Friday night in a 41-21 win over a visiting North squad that kept it competitive all night.
In the end, North couldn't catch Kham Athy and his 123 yards rushing and 3 TDs, 2 on tosses from Cam Allen.And the Bobcats' defense bailed them out with big plays against a North team that outgained them.
Central came in ranked No. 17 in 5A by the AIA, just outside the Top 16 that makes the conference playoffs. But No. 1 Desert Mountain also was rated among the top eight teams that would move to the Open playoffs, which could have elevated Central into the 5A tournament.
However, while Centeral was taking care of business at home, across the Valley in Scottsdale, Desert Mountain wasn't, as it fell to No. 4 Higley, leading to a potential shake-up in nexet week's rankings.
Key Plays
Twice in the first half, North got turned away in the red zone, once on a fumble at the 7 after sweeping downfield and then on consecutive incompletions at the 16 after Tommy Ceuz gave them a lift at QB off the bench.
With the game still in question, Bryson Ballard tipped away a sure TD pass at the goal line on 4th down.
Central made huge plays on offense. Cam Allen made it look easy at QB with 2 TDs to Athy, who set the school TD mark with the second one, and a 57-yarder to Ja'coby Gilmore. Izzy Foz set a Central place kicking record.
North got a great game from Cruz and TDs from Mark Mintz and Rorion Jordan.
Key Stats
North outgained Central, 365-289, but it was the timing of the plays that counted. North was the better team between the 20s.
Cruz threw for 173 but Allen's 148 were timely, on 4th down to Ballard for 6 and he looped one to Athy for 6 in a short-yardage situation.
Jordan had a nifty 80-yard run for 6 for North.
Key quotes
Central Cosch Chandler Hovik called his team the best he's had anywhere he's coached and he doesn't see "16 teams better in 5A," a sentiment echoed by Athy.
With the win, Central wins the 5A Metro Region.
Up next
Central tries to wrap up a playoff spot next week at rival Camelback. North (4-5) finishes up at home against South Mountain.
