As the football playoffs wind down, coaches and analysts revert to the tired, but true, axioms that the games are won with blocking and tackling.
Add snapping to the list.
Two bad snaps by top seed and defending champion Desert Edge Nov. 21 changed the trajectory of the 5A state title. #9 Desert Mountain took scored fumble return touchdowns on both mistakes for its only points of the night in a 13-10 upset that sent shockwaves across the state.
“We had a bad snap on offense and a bad snap on a punt,” Desert Edge Coach Henri MacArthur said. “We were in position to win the game. It was a defensive game and I bet on our defense every day of the week. Our defense held them to nothing. What I told them was, as they go on with their careers, that one or two plays and lack of execution can be the difference in the game.”
Desert Mountain’s defense limited the damage from its mistakes in the other phases of the game. The Scorpions could not move the ball with their impromptu Wildcat offense, scoring only three points total from a high snap on a field goal attempt and a sack and forced fumble deep in Wolves territory.
Surviving this defensively dominated, run-heavy ordeal sends Desert Mountain (10-3) into more of the same — most likely — at region rival and #5 seed Horizon (10-2) at 7 p.m. Nov. 28.
In their regular season meeting, a 33-21 Huskies win, Horizon was the first team to load up with the Wildcat and other heavy packages. Desert Edge was the fourth, and the Wolves handled it well other than one big play.
“We have seen it lately,” Desert Mountain Coach Conrad Hamilton said. “We practiced all week and had the opportunity to say that this is how people want to attack us. We’re going to try to take a corner off the field and bring in another bigger guy. Cactus had a good game plan early but our kids have risen to the occasion, even in the last 1½ quarters against Notre Dame Prep we figured it out.”
The difference? Horizon, Notre Dame Prep and Cactus went to the Wildcat by choice, while Desert Edge (11-1) did it out of necessity.
Junior quarterback Blake Roskopf sprained his AC joint in the Scorpions’ 46-7 second round rout of #17 Vail Cienega.
All week Roskopf was expected to be out. He felt better hours before kickoff and tried to play.
At first the Scorpions went to the Wildcat, alternating between direct snaps to sophomore running back Byron Brandon or senior defensive back Camren Hamiel, with sophomore receiver Jhaheem Brown operating as a third back at times.
It worked spectacularly late in the first quarter, as one of Arizona’s best defensive players scored the game’s only offensive touchdown. It was that kind of night.
Hamiel avoided a tackle, changed directions and took off on a 62-yard scoring dash for a 7-0 Desert Edge lead.
“That was a hell of a play. He reversed his field and sometimes you can’t do anything about that,” Hamilton said.
On the first play of the second quarter, Brandon could not handle a wayward snap and senior Kaika Solomon returned the fumble 27 yards for the tying touchdown.
Both teams put together one sustained drive all night and neither scored on it.
After the fumble, Roskopf checked in and was a decoy for the Scorpions for most of the second quarter. The offense drove 43 yards then bogged down.
Sophomore Jackson Rogers attempted a 33-yard field goal but Desert Mountain senior defensive back Ryan McDonough rushed in off the edge and blocked it.
“We play complementary football. I love what we do. Defensively we’re stout. Special teams has been elite for us all year,” Hamilton said.
The home team had one more opportunity before halftime and went back to the ground game.
Roskopf re-entered to ground the ball with four seconds left in the half, then attempted his only true pass of the night.
He connected with senior receiver Dayvon Standard for 10 yards but the throw was labored with no zip on it.
“Blake is super tough. He’s tough as nails. The things he tried to do to get ready to play this game ... my hat’s off to him. He couldn’t even lift his arm to his chest level on Monday,” MacArthur said. “We knew it was probably a longshot. He gave it a go but he said he couldn’t be functional. And it caused him a ton of discomfort. Blake has a really bright future and I didn’t want him to take a hit.”
Desert Edge senior defensive back Antonio Para trips up Desert Mountain junior running back Ryan Cratty during the fourth quarter of a 5A football quarterfinal in Goodyear Nov. 21. (Richard Smith/West Valley Preps)
Tied at seven early in the third quarter, Scorpions sophomore defensive back Jaelyn Easterling-Flores sacked junior quarterback Grant Garduno, sending the ball flying.
Easterling-Flores recovered the fumble and ran it to the Wolves 10. A holding call dug a deep hole for the Wildcat attack.
Rodgers hit a 22-yard field goal for a 10-7 Desert Edge lead, but the Wolves’ defense prevented disaster.
“The details are huge for us. We go over the small details in practice a lot,” McDonough said. “Getting those in-game reps helped. It shows that people are kind of afraid of our defense.”
Desert Mountain put together a 62-yard drive. But a high snap on junior Koen Broadley’s 26-yard field goal attempt allowed the Scorpions to retain their lead.
It did not last. The Wolves forced a three and out, leading to the decisive punt snap with less than a minute left in the third quarter.
The snap from the 28 sailed over Jayden Boschetti’s head. He tried to pick it up but couldn’t, and sophomore receiver Kai Tschen recovered at the 1 and fell into the end zone for a 13-10 lead late in the third.
“Obviously missing Blake was a big loss. Desert Mountain has a great defense that is really multiple,” MacArthur said. “A lot of things played into their favor, but I thought we outplayed them. They took advantage of two big mistakes we made.”
Desert Edge had three more possessions and tried freshman quarterback Maddox Boyd the final two.
Trying to operate an offense more similar to the Scorpions’ regular Air Raid, Boyd did not complete a pass.
“They slowed the game down for us,” Hamilton said. “We’re glad they did it and we’re glad we were able to muck it up and play physical football.”
Junior transfers Christian McComber (Las Vegas Bishop Gorman) and Davian Whitener (Pinnacle) fortified the Desert Mountain defense.
Top sophomore running back and linebacker Easton Conner missed the game after suffering a head injury against Cactus.
Unlike the last two Wolves teams, Hamilton said, this is a scrappy group lower of Division I talent and senior experience.
After two straight years with a difficult quarterfinal matchup in the Open Division, Desert Mountain has the chance to play for the 5A title for the first time since 2022.
“It’s definitely a huge chance. We wanted this game. As soon as the bracket came out, we wanted a shot at DE and we got it,” McDonough said. “We prepared for this like it was our state championship game.”
With the heavy favorite to repeat eliminated, 5A is suddenly wide open.
MacArthur said the large and talented junior and sophomore classes will use this as fuel for the next year.
“In one of those games where you’re up by 21, or up by 35 you can get away with it,” MacArthur said. “Every little detail matters. Every little play matters.”
Richard Smith Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
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