Salpointe Catholic 35, Sahuarita 26
At Sahuarita, Salpointe avoided an 0-2 start by surging in the second half. After a sack and forced fumble early in the third quarter, Lancers linebacker Oscar Quiroz recovered the ball in the end zone after a crazy scramble that saw at least three players from each team have a chance at the ball.
Sahuarita then botched a punt and fumbled the ball out of the back of the end zone for a safety. Salpointe's Dominic Salaz returned the ensuing free kick for a touchdown.
Sahuarita used the home crowd to their advantage to keep the game close the rest of the way but couldn't pull even again. Mustangs quarterback Damion Hill threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns. Salpointe was better: Quarterback EJ Galvez and running back Zach Dorame both punched in rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Dorame fininshed with a game-high 128 yards on 10 carries.
Highlight reel
Sahuarita's Dago Segundo returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown with less than three minutes left in the game to bring the Mustangs within 2 points. Segundo broke several tackles and outran the Lancers down the left sideline; his return brought the crowd into a frenzy.
Player of the game
Making his first career start, Salpointe sophmore quarterback E.J. Galvez helped the Lancers to 35 second-half points and played without a turnover. Galvez used his scrambling ability to keep several plays alive. Galvez checked out of an inside run play in the fourth quarter with his team up by two points; the check-down led to an outside running play that was taken 51 yards for a touchdown.
By the numbers
1. Sahuarita kicker Gabriel Hernandez was thrown out of the game for unsportmanlike conduct following a late-game shoving match. He will be ineligible to play next week and will miss one game.
He said it
"I don't think I've ever been more proud of a football team: Great resiliency, great fight. I thought the fight our kids had was tremendous." — Salpointe Catholic coach Dennis Bene
Sam Martin
