Friday night’s 5A State Championship game may go down as one of the wildest and most dramatic in Arizona history.

There were 19 players ejected, a 29-point comeback in the final 16 minutes, huge plays made on both sides of the ball, and one holding call that may haunt Desert Edge through the holidays and well beyond. 

At the end of it all, Higley held on to win its second straight 5A title with a 42-41 roller coaster win over Desert Edge.

Down 42-13 with 4:19 left in the third quarter, and with most of its starting defense out of the game, Desert Edge engineered a comeback for the ages, as quarterback Hezekiah Millender led the Scorpions on four unanswered scoring drives.
When senior Deshawn Warner took the direct snap and scored from one yard as time expired, Desert Edge was suddenly down by one point (42-41) and did not hesitate to go for two  to win the game and championship.
The 6-4, 225 pound Warner took the direct snap again, ran to his left and muscled his way through defenders into the endzone. For a few seconds a remarkable and historic comeback was finished.

But not so fast.

Desert Edge was called for holding.

After a few chaotic moments, Desert Edge chose to go for two points again, this time from the 15-yard line. Millender threw it over the middle to Kezion Dia-Johnson, but the play was broken up by Higley’s Jacob Pitts and Jesse Eulate in a violent collision.

The Higley side erupted in celebration while Desert Edge players, coaches and fans juggled heartbreak and disbelief.

“There are really no words to describe this, it's just crazy,” Higley running back Dax Hall said afterward.

“I’m just glad we got the victoryThat got really scary at the end but this feels great, especially to win two years in a row.”

Hall rushed for 219 yards, part of an offensive freight train that was unstoppable through the game’s first 32 minutes. Sophomore quarterback Gunner Fagrell became an official superstar with his performance Friday night, throwing for 365 yards and two touchdowns. He also added a four yard scoring run in the third quarter that appeared to put the game away, as Higley led 42-13 with just over four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Both of Fagrell’s touchdown passes came in the first half. Taveon Sueing caught a one yard score on the opening drive, and JD Decausmaker went up for a nifty 23-yard touchdown reception with :59 seconds left until the half. That gave Higley a 28-7 lead, while Desert Edge was reeling and depleted.

Sideline skirmish depletes Desert Edge

With 1:21 left in the first half, Higley’s Nijrell Eason II returned a punt into Desert Edge territory before a blindside block by Higley turned into a fight near Higley’s sideline. After order was restored, the referees had a lot of sorting out to do. The result was devastating for Desert Edge, as 16 players were ejected, including standouts Aundre Gibson and leading rusher Markhi McKinnon, plus a host of starting defenders and offensive linemen. The issue for Desert Edge was so many players leaving their bench and charging towards Higley’s sideline to involve themselves in the scuffle, which then nearly evolved into something far worse.

Still, Desert Edge co-head coach Mark Carter was not pleased with the lopsided ejections.

“My issue is, the (referees) calling out kids who were already on the field for the punt, and they were just picking numbers…and we had 16 guys go out, and they had three,” Carter explained.

“So (Higley) played the rest of the game full strength, and we’re playing with our JV defense.”

The ejections took place just a few plays before Decausmaker’s touchdown reception made the score 28-7.

The Scorpions prospects were bleak: A 21 point deficit at halftime, 16 players ejected, and a Higley offense that could not be solved. 

But there were still :59 seconds left when Kezion Dia-Johnson took the ensuing kickoff for Desert Edge 89 yards for a touchdown and a much needed momentum. It made the score 28-13, and foreshadowed the drama that would unfold late in the second half.

A spectacular comeback 

Higley didn’t miss a beat through much of the third quarter, as Larry Halvorsen and Fagrell added short touchdown runs. But Dia-Johnson, along with his quarterback Hezekiah Millender, would turn the game on its head. Millender hit Jaqua Anderson from 30 yards near the end of the third quarter, and added a two point run to cut Higley’s lead to 42-21.

Two minutes into the fourth quarter, Millender hooked up with Dia-Johnson on a 79-yard scoring pass play, and suddenly it was only a 14 point game (42-28) with 10 minutes left to play. The momentum carried over defensively, as Fugrall and company were frustrated for the first time all night.

“I can’t tell you how proud we are of these kids and what they did tonight,” Carter added.

Millender kept moving the Desert Edge offense down the field. Jaqua Anderson scored on a one yard run to cap an 86-yard drive, bringing the score to 42-35 with 4:42 remaining.

The Knights offense continued to struggle, as Desert Edge forced a third straight punt.

That’s when Millender led Desert Edge on its potentially game winning drive, 90 yards in 10 plays, before Warner bruised his way into the endzone with no time remaining. After he converted the two point conversion, a few moments passed before he was told of the holding call. 

I was almost 1,000 percent sure that we won the game," Warner said afterward. "It's been like that all year. We're playing against the other team and playing against the refs. But I can't blame it all on the refs. We had some mistakes."

For coach Eddy Zubey and the Higley Knights, back to back 5A state championships are now a reality. 

“What a game,” Zubey said emphatically. “A lot of crazy things happened in that game, but this feels amazing.”

Key Stats

Millender passed for 201 yards in the fourth quarter, finishing with 326 total yards. Dia-Johnson finished with 211 receiving yards, 131 coming in the final quarter. For Higley, Lagrell threw for 365 yards, 362 of which came in the fourth quarter.