Down 22-11 at Tucson High, Canyon del Oro took advantage of a strip sack and an ensuing onside kick to take a 23-22 lead with 1:27 left in the game. As the rain started to fall in the Old Pueblo, it looked like the work of Badger senior running back Noah Chanez and sophomore athlete Ezra Spivey would be overshadowed by the extraordinary effort of Dorado junior quarterback Peyton Strang but Spivey had one more big play in his book.

Spivey caught the kickoff at the one 1-yard line rather than letting the ball enter the end zone for a touchback and he took the ball up the left side to give the Badgers great field position at their own 44 with 1:18 left. That play would help catapult the Badgers to a dramatic 28-23 victory with Sr. QB Derek Mesa hitting fellow senior Makoa Pena for a touchdown with 53 seconds left.

Spivey returned a fumble for a touchdown, he came up with an acrobatic interception to spoil a potential scoring drive from Canyon del Oro and he chased down what looked to be a deep scoring pass from Strang to Jr. Jackson Wright but the 79-yard scoring pass turned into a 56-yard play after Spivey punched the ball out and the 23 to end the threat. The Dorados recovered the fumble but gave the ball back on downs at the 12-yard line with 9:33 left in the game.

On the ground, Chanez unofficially rushed for 215 yards on 21 carries, including a 41-yard scoring run to put the Badgers up 8-0 with 9:44 left in the first quarter. Chanez provided the two points on a broken play after the TD.

Spivey put the Badgers up 15-0 on a 34-yard fumble return with 3:40 left in the quarter but the Dorados stopped another scoring drive on a fumble seconds into the second quarter, only to have Spivey come up with his diving interception with 10:41 left in the first half. The Dorados went on a 21-play scoring drive that took up seven minutes to cut the lead down to 15-8 on a 2-yard run from Sr. Brenden Lawrence and a 2-point pass from Sprang to Jr. Diego Torres. So. Jayden Smith came up with an interception to end half.

Sr. Reece Douglas connected on a 27-yard field goal to cut the Badger lead down to 15-11 with 5:30 left in the third but Mesa responded with a 26-yard pass to Jr. Isaac Fierros for the 22-11 lead with 20 seconds left.

A fumble with 4:55 left in the game gave the Dorados life and Sprang connected with Tores again from four yards out to cut the lead down to 22-17 with 3:43 left. Th Dorados recovered the onside kick and Sr. David Luke cashed in on a 1-yard run to put Canyon del Oro up 23-22 with 1:27 left. Lost in the scoring drive was the heads up usage of timeouts from Badger head coach Zach Neveleff. The Dorados ran three plays from up close and the timeouts preserved about a minute of playing time that he would ultimately need down the stretch.

Spivey had his 44-yard return and then Mesa hit Sr. Malaki Hiadzi Cunningham for what looked to be a short gain but Cunningham broke free for 38 yards to put the Badgers at the Dorado 18. Mesa ran for three more yards and then Pena caught a 10-yard pass to put the ball at the five. Pena snuck in the corner on the next play and he caught the winning pass with 53 seconds left.

In a game like this, 53 seconds seemed to be plenty of time as Sprang drove the Dorados the 49 with 24 second still remaining but Sr. Kenzy Couch came up with an interception with 16 seconds left to seal the victory.

The initial ranking for the “big schools” will be released on Tuesday, October 14 and Tucson (4-3) and Canyon del Oro (3-4) hope to be in the mix under the expanded 24-team playoff system for the 5A Conferecne. Both teams, however, have difficult opponents coming up with the Dorados hosting undefeated Desert View (7-0) next week and Tucson visiting powerhouse Marana (6-1).

Unofficially, Mesa threw for 153 yards with two scores and Sprang for 183 yards and a TD and Lawrence ran for 71 yards with a score.

 

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