From Jeremiah Sosa
The # 1 high school football team in Arizona survived a scare from the Sandra Day O’Connor Eagles.
After sloppy first two quarters, trailing 14-13, the Chandler Wolves came back on the field after half-time, knocking out the O’Connor Eagles 36-14.
Big games
O’Connors defensive back Jaden Jacobi was the Eagles’ defensive player of the game.
O’Connor fumbled on her first drive of the third quarter and gave the ball to the Wolves with good field position.
A couple of series after the fumble, Hipa linked up with recipient Justice Spann for a 63-yard touchdown. That game destroyed the momentum O’Connor had in the second half, and the Eagles never recovered.
Outstanding performer:
Chandler quarterback Blaine Hipa was the standout player of the game, recording five pass touchdowns, three of which came in the second half.
Hipa was able to spread around the ball and connect with four of his receivers for his five touchdowns.
Quotes:
“We didn’t come out of here focused. We weren’t as prepared mentally as we should have been all week,” said Hipa. “This is not a game that should have been (close). Everyone on this team knows that and we came back here in the second half and something happened.”
“We stopped beating ourselves and reached our potential and that’s how we got 36 on the board,” added Hipa.
Next:
The O’Connor Eagles face the Chaparral Firebirds and the Chandler Wolves aim for their 40th straight win against the Liberty Lions
Liberty crashes Sunrise Mountain in an OT thriller
From: Madison Thacker
Liberty won this year’s rivalry in a dramatic overtime game against Sunrise Mountain 41-3.
Sunrise didn’t give Liberty a chance in the first half, forcing the Lions to bet on any possession. Sunrise got their offense going early, with a roaring touchdown from quarterback Hunter Kronengold.
It was a twist in the second half. Liberty was strong with her run game spearheaded by her quarterback Navi Bruzon and Zach Wallace.
Big games
In the first half, Sunrise kicker Easton Black scored a 52-yard field goal to extend the lead to 13-0.
Despite missing a field goal towards the end of the fourth quarter, Black made it big when Sunrise’s offense failed to score a first down.
Late in the fourth quarter, Micah Johnson forced a fumble and ran 70 yards for a touchdown to steal the lead, 21-14 for Sunrise Mountain.
Liberty responded with a touchdown to bring the game into overtime. In extra time there were consecutive touchdowns for both teams. With Sunrise’s last possession, they couldn’t get past Liberty.
Liberty scored the winning touchdown with a run from Wallace.
Quote
“Zach Wallace is our man and once we get our hands on the ball we will have a lot more success,” said Colin Thomas, Liberty head coach.
Despite a lack of success in the first half, Thomas remained confident of his team.
“We knew that if we could go on, we could get a touchdown on the board and the place would go crazy, which is what happened,” said Thomas. “We just had to break through, someone had to play and we knew when we went into extra time it was our game.”
ALA-Gilbert angered Yuma Catholic
Posted by Ben Stapley
The American Leadership Academy has a campus in Gilbert and a pretty good dedicated soccer team.
The second-placed Eagles hosted the top-ranked Yuma Catholic in a 3A showdown on Friday night and will soon be number 1 after a 28-25 win.
ALA (4-0) used a powerful, roaring attack along with a timely pass from junior quarterback Adam Damante to control most of the first half.
After an early Yuma field goal, ALA reeled 21 points in a row, with Brice Jobe, Easton Webster and quarterback Damante all scoring touchdowns on the ground.
Yuma (3-1) was down but never led off junior quarterback Richard Stallworth and made an impressive comeback, only throwing a touchdown pass to Austin Rush just before halftime.
Stallworth hit the tight end Justin Erath from 17 yards at the beginning of the third quarter and suddenly ALA was in the lead with 21:17.
Jobe would later score again in the third quarter with a one-yard run and a 28-17 lead before surviving a late Stallworth touchdown.
Stars of the game
ALA’s offensive line helped control the line of scrimmage and the time of possession. Running backs Bric Jobe and Easton Webster combined for 155 yards. All four of ALA’s touchdowns came on the floor.
In the first three games, Adam Damante had thrown 12 touchdown passes.
Quotable
Gilbert ALA trainer Randy Ricedorff:
“Great football is played at ALA. I was thrilled when I heard about Queen Creek last week. “
“The difference tonight was in the trenches. I knew our line of defense would do its thing. But it was very gratifying to see that our offensive line was able to set up and control the line of scrimmage. I love to let our quarterback throw the ball, but Yuma played on the pass and we could let the ball go. “
“Stallworth is a great quarterback. There is no way you are going to hold him down for the entire game. It wasn’t surprising how they continued to fight. “
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