Kayden Luke’s first run of the night went nowhere. Canyon del Oro was already down 7-0 at that point and Luke finished the first half with only 47 yards on nine rushes and Marana went into the locker room up 14-0 and seemingly in control of the game but then the third quarter happened. The senior back took a seat on the sidelines a few minutes into the fourth with 226 yards rushing on 21 carries with three touchdowns to help pace the Dorados to 49-21 victory on the road Friday night.

Marana punched the Dorados in the mouth early on with sophomore quarterback Colten Meyer making his first start under center memorable thanks to a 52-yard strike to Andres Taylor to put the Tigers up 7-0 with 10:15 left in the first quarter. The teams traded a few punts and then Chase Laux came up with an interception to put the Dorados in excellent position to start the second quarter but the Marana forced a turnover on downs at their own 14. That turnover proved to be the difference in the half with Meyer leading his team on an 86-yard scoring drive with a 14-yard pass to Jaelen Collins capping it all off to put Marana up 14-0.

Canyon del Oro took over with 3:22 left in the half but the half ended on an interception from Moses Miller. Meyer had 189 yards passing with two TDs and it looked like the Tigers were going to spoil another run for the Dorados, like the team did last year on a 40-37 setback, but the opening kickoff return in the thiird quarter by the Dorados set the tone for what was about to happen.

“It looked like two different games you know what I mean? They were stopping us,” Canyon del Oro head coach Dustin Peace said. “Great job stopping our run in the first half and there was no special recipe in the second half.. We do what we do and they looked a lot different.”

Adrian Davidson returned the kick 48 yards to midfield and Luke bolted free for 30 yards a few plays later to set up his first score of the night, a 4-yard run to cut the Marana lead down to 14-7 with 8:35 left in the third. The Tigers were forced to punt and Vijay King scored from 20 yards out to tie the game up at 14-14 with 3:48 left in the quarter. Marana punted again and the power-running from Luke set up a 66-yard TD pass from Tristen McClelland to Chance Cassel to put the Dorados up 21-14 with 1:32 left in the third.

A fumble recovery from Ryan Madsen three plays later led to a 10-yard scoring run from Luke to put Canyon del Oro up 28-14 with 48 seconds left and Marana punted again to start the fourth quarter. Luke picked up an 11-yard run and he broke free on the next play for 54 yards to put the Dorados up 35-14 with 10:54 left in the game. Austin Greer came up with a 50-yard interception return on the next play from scrimmage to put Canyon del Oro up 42-14.

The Tigers gave up the ball on downs on the next drive and Luke set the tone the rest of the way with a 25 yard rush and he gave way to Davidson and Davidson scored from close to give the Dorados 49-14 lead with 5:27 left.

Meyer came alive again and he capped a 65-yard scoring drive with a 7-yard run for the 49-21 final. Meyer finished with 298 yards passing on 41 attempts with two TD passes and another rushing. Dezmen Roebuck pulled in 76 yards receiving on ten catches, Dominic Cillitto had 73 yards receiving on six catches and Taylor had 57 yards receiving with a TD. Senior QB Jason Wood caught three passes for 19 yards. The Tigers had 37 yards rushing with Meyer picking up 22 of those. Meyer is a first cousin of the famed Bourguet family and look for him to be a force by the time he is finished.

“They're good at what they do with that passing stuff and it’s very, very difficult to stop,” Peace added. “That's why we put them on our schedule because we know they're a good team and they do that well.”

Luke had his 226 yards rushing with three TDs to lead the Dorados and King had 32. The team finished with 309 yards rushing on 40 carries and it’s a concern for the Tigers after Mountain View Marana rushed for 387 on 48 carries to stun the Tigers last week. McClelland had 89 yards passing with a TD and Cassel had 66 of those with a TD. Sophomore kicker Reece Douglas made all seven extra points for the Dorados.

Canyon del Oro is 5-0 on the year after the victory and the program has a bye week coming up before squaring off at Catalina Foothills (2-3) on Oct. 6. All eyes will be on the Dorados the following week, however, when Mica Mountain (5-0) comes in after facing off with Pueblo (3-2) on Oct. 6. If Canyon del Oro and Mica Mountain survive and meet at 6-0 each, it could be the top 4A Conference game of the regular season. Will the winner have enough power points to reach the Open Division? The math might not be there but only time will tell.

Marana fell to 1-4 on the year so the team will have to win their final five games to give themselves a shot at the 5A playoffs. Five teams made the 5A playoffs last year with four losses and two had five losses. Two of those teams made the quarterfinal round, where the Tigers ended their season last year. Marana ended 2022 with a 10-2 record and Canyon del Oro lost to Snowflake 16-13 in overtime in the 4A semifinal round last year. Mica Mountain has not made the playoffs in three years at the varsity level and it would take a total collapse to miss the playoffs this year.

The first step for Marana will be a difficult trip to Buena (5-0) next Friday but that’s also a power-point opportunity with the first set of AIA rankings slated to be released on Oct. 3.

Colten meyer. (Andy Morales/AZPresp365)