Three area football teams punch tickets to state finals

Four hours later, the same field will be used to decide whether 3A’s top-ranked Thatcher High School can complete its perfect season with a state title of its own. To accomplish that, the Eagles will have to get past No. 2 ranked Eastmark High School, out of Mesa.

The state finals matchups were determined Saturday in semifinal games played in Phoenix, Mesa and Safford.

Pima High and No. 4 Willcox High squared off relatively close to home at Safford High School. The game was a rematch for Pima against one of its tougher opponents this season. The Cowboys gave the Roughriders a good game on Sept. 24, but came up on the short end of the score at home, 27-14.

In his pregame speech to his team on Saturday, Pima Head Coach Josh Wilkins said he likened his players to a pride of lions. Not only are lions swift and powerful, they protect and take care of each other, he explained.

The comparison turned out to be prescient, because the Roughriders, led by a quick and swarming defense, most definitely pounced by way of aggressive, opportunistic play to come away with a 35-7 victory in the rematch.

There were a couple of occasions when Pima’s game plan appeared it might be too aggressive. One came on the Roughriders’ first possession. Facing a fourth down and long yardage near mid-field, Wilkins ignored conventional wisdom and decided to go for the first down. His offense failed to convert, and his defense found itself lined up against a group of Cowboys that had a clear view of the end zone instead of being pinned down deep on their own end of the field.

The Cowboys, however, were unable to get anything going against Pima’s D, and they wound up turning the ball over on downs themselves. Pima pounced quickly after that, scoring on 34-yard pass play to senior wideout Grant Ashby.

The other time the Roughriders looked like they might be testing fate was late in the second quarter. Up 21-0 with less than three minutes left in the half, Pima started calling timeouts during Willcox’s possession in hopes of getting the ball back with enough time on the clock to put up one last score before halftime. It nearly worked: The Roughriders did get the ball back with about a minute or so on the clock and managed to drive almost to the Willcox goal line before losing the ball on a fumble.

The risk of stopping the clock late in the half while Willcox was trailing by three touchdowns was that the clock was the Cowboys’ enemy at that point; slowing the game down was actually giving them a better opportunity to find their way back into it.

Wilkins didn’t disagree with that assessment, but he said his staff’s game plan was aggressive by design to keep pressure on the Cowboys, and putting up another score before the half would have helped accomplish that.

The strategy ultimately worked. Pima led 35-0 after three quarters, and the defense never gave up a score. Willcox’s only score came on a run-back of a fumble recovery during garbage time late in the fourth.

“We were lions out there today,” Wilkins told his team after the game. “We’ve got to keep eating.”

In this case, mealtime would be at the expense of the Morenci Wildcats, and they no doubt have dinner plans of their own. On Saturday they feasted on the Eagles of Southwest Christian Academy, advancing their state title hopes with a score of 71-40 at Westwood High School in Mesa..

The Wildcats’ victory sets up a revenge game in the state title matchup against Pima. The Roughriders handed Morenci its only loss, a 21-20 affair played in Morenci on Oct. 28.

Abandoning his lion metaphor temporarily, Pima’s Wilkins said the state final matchup will be of “two bulls that have come to fight."

The undefeated Eagles of Thatcher High faced the biggest challenge of the day in their 3A semifinal matchup against No. 4 Show Low. Coach Dan Jones’ team entered the game uncertain whether they’d have the services of 3A South Region Player of the Year Brandon Napier, who had suffered a leg injury against Valley Christian a week earlier. It turned out the senior QB did play, but was nearly lost again when he reinjured his leg in the third quarter.

The Eagles managed only 21 points against the Cougars after averaging 59 their two previous playoff opponents. But their defense saw to it a big offensive number was unnecessary.

Tickets for Eastmark versus Thatcher can be purchased at https://gofan.co/app/events/752214. Adult tickets are $15, and student tickets are $7.50.

Tickets for Morenci vs. Pima are available at https://gofan.co/app/events/752199.

Both games will be livestreamed on the NFHS Network.