By Don Ketchum

There were two Cinderellas and only one glass slipper. One of them was going to have to go home barefoot.

The slipper fit 13^th-seeded Phoenix Thunderbird as the Chiefs outlasted No. 8 seed Goodyear Desert Edge in double overtime 24-17 in a Class 4A Division II semifinal game on Friday night (Nov. 26) at Phoenix North Canyon High.

Thunderbird players and fans poured onto the field and were delirious at the realization that the team had advanced to the title game for the first time in the history of the school that has been open more than 30 years.

The Chiefs (9-4) will meet second-seeded Gilbert Williams Field (13-0) for the championship on Dec. 4 (Saturday) at Arizona State University’s Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. Kickoff is 11 a.m.

Friday night’s effort was the second straight heart-pounding victory for Thunderbird. The team defeated Gilbert Higley 35-34 in last week’s quarterfinals.

“These last two games have aged me about 10 years,’’ said Thunderbird coach Brent Wittenwyler.

“This game went about the way I expected after I saw them (Desert Edge) on film. It was two great teams playing hard. It was about two football teams doing it the right way, with home-grown players. Prep football games should go exactly like this.’’

Thunderbird held a 7-0 lead at halftime, courtesy of a 25-yard touchdown pass from Vinnie Marin to Keith Lillie.

Desert Edge (10-3) took the second-half kickoff and took just 2 ½ minutes to tie it with an eight-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by a 22-yard scoring run by Manny James.

Thunderbird came right back for a 10-7 lead on a 36-yard field goal by Eric Wagner. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Desert Edge tied it at 10 on a 20-yard field goal by Hector Viramontes.

Another Desert Edge field-goal attempt, this one from 40 yards, was wide right with 46 seconds left in the game. Thunderbird drove close enough for a 47-yard attempt on the final play of regulation, but it fell short.

Desert Edge got the ball first in the first overtime, scoring on a seven-yard run by quarterback Tanner Lung. It was amazing that he was able to get up after he bashed heads with a defender at the goal line. Lung lost the ball, but officials ruled that he already had crossed the goal line.

Thunderbird quickly tied it on its second play of the first overtime on a 10-yard run by Kani Benoit.

The Chiefs got the ball first in the second overtime and wasted no time in putting the pressure on Desert Edge. Marin found Jawuan Pugh with a pass near the goal line. Pugh caught the ball and reached it across for the score.

“My assistant coach, John Parker, kept telling me that we should run that play that it would work,’’ Wittenwyler said. “If it wouldn’t have worked, I would have yelled at him but we still would have had three more downs.’’

Desert Edge lost a yard on a pass on its first play, went for no gain on a running play on its second play, and got as close as the Thunderbird 3-yard line on an eight-yard pass. On fourth down, Lung rolled out to his left and appeared that he might try to run it in as he did in the first overtime. But he threw the ball into the end zone where it fell incomplete.

That moment almost was surreal, according to Thunderbird linebacker Justin Ganados.

“We were hoping for a prayer from God, and we got it,’’ he said.

“This is the greatest feeling in the world. I’m almost speechless. This group has been playing together since Pop Warner, and we really trust in each other.’’