By Brittany Bowyer
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SCOTTSDALE — Notre Dame Prep defeated Chaparral on Thursday night 34-14 following a second-half surge helping them to run away with the game. The Saints have been hot, coming into the game off a big win over Horizon, and their momentum was too much for Chaparral to stop. For Notre Dame Prep Head Coach George Prelock, he was happy with how his team performed on the night against a tough and scrappy Chaparral team.

“I’m really proud about how the boys played tonight,” Prelock said. “[Chaparral’s] two losses were against quality opponents. If you look at those games and break down those tapes, they were two or three plays away from being an undefeated team.”

Things got off in favor of the Saints, who won the coin toss and elected to defer.

Chaparral got things started quick, as sophomore Ryan Trocki only neded three snaps to get the ball from the 37-yard-line to the endzone. Trocki was able to find an open senior Jahir Jensen down field, who caught the pass for a 62-yard touchdown. The kick from sophomore Dom Voyer was good, giving Chaparral the early 7-0 lead with 10:07 remaining in the first quarter.

Notre Dame Prep’s opening drive didn’t go as they had hoped, as senior quarterback Hunter Stine was picked off by Chaparral senior Luca Ugenti.

“We say, ‘Some things are out of your control,’ right,” Prelock said. “We made some mistakes, but it’s how you respond to it. We’ve got to flush the bad plays, we’ve got to stick together and take it one play at a time, and that’s what this team did, you know.”

Chaparral got the ball back but the Firebirds weren’t able to do much with it, and ultimately they punted the ball away with 4:36 remaining in the first quarter.

The Saints took over at their own 35-yard-line and quickly got to work. Senior running back Decker Haskins-Smith did a lot of the work early in the drive, helping move the ball down the field. Stine was able to find junior Ryder Ashcraft for a pick up of 31 yards, setting up Stine for a four-yard quarterback keeper for a touchdown. The extra point attempt by Ashcraft was good, tying the game at 7-7 with 2:24 left in the first quarter.

Opening up Chaparral’s following drive, senior all-star Jayce Wilson went down with an injury on the first snap. It would prove to be a significant loss for Chaparral, who ended up punting the ball away with 10:26 remaining in the second quarter.

“[Wilson], our entire offense kind of runs through him,” Chaparral Head Coach Trace Carroll said. “He’s a big part of our whole entire team. He’s a punt and kick returner, and like I said, our whole offense kinda goes through him, and has been going through him since I’ve been here. He’s so electric with the ball in his hands, so I’d say about 40-percent of my call sheet got exed out when he went out of the game.”

NDP’s following possession was a quick three-and-out, punting the ball back with 9:41 still remainingn in the half. However, defense would go out and get the job done, as senior Matt Higby was able to come down with an interception with 7:26 remaining in the second quarter.

The Saints took over at the 28-yard-line and got to work chopping away at the chains. They finished the drive off with a 33-yard touchdown run from Haskins-Smith to regain the lead. Ashcraft’s kick was good, making it 14-7 with 5:59 remaining to play in the first half.

Chaparral’s next drive would result in another interception, this one coming from junior Austin Bush with 3:16 remaining in the first half. Notre Dame Prep took over possession at Chaparral’s 39-yard-line, and from there, they were again able to reach the end zone. Haskins-Smith took it ten yards for another touchdown to extend the lead. Ashcraft’s extra point attempt was good, making it 21-7 with 2:28 remaining in the quarter.

The Firebirds got the ball back and knew they had to work smart if they were going to score before halftime. Trocki and junior Layne Migneault were able to connect five different times on the drive to help Chaparral reach the end zone. It came on a 30-yard pass from Trocki to Migneault with just :49 seconds remaining before the half. Voyer’s kick was again good, making it 21-14 as both teams went into the locker rooms at halftime.

NDP got the ball coming out of the half, but weren’t able to do anything with it. Both teams exchanged punts on their opening possession of the second half. On the Saints following drive, Stine was picked off by senior Brody Espinoza with 6:56 remaining in the third quarter.

However, Chaparral wouldn’t be able to do anything with the possession, eventually turning the ball over on downs at the NDP 13-yard-line with just :19 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The following drive for NDP was all Haskins-Smith. On four snaps, he took the ball the remaining length of the field. He capped the drive off with a 49-yard touchdown run, extending the lead to 27-`4 with 11:08 to go.

It was a quick three-and-out for Chaparral on the following possession, and they punted the ball back with 10:46 remaining in the game. Notre Dame Prep took over near mid-field, and from there, were able to score one final time on a 45-yard pass from Stine to senior Jace Wright. Ashcraft’s kick was good, pushing the lead to 34-14 with 9:37 remaining.

Chaparral had an opportunity to try to counter, but were unable to answer. From there, NDP took over possession of the ball and ran out the rest of the clock to pick up the win.

Following the win, Prelock mentioned how Carroll has done a great job of bringing life back to the Chaparral program.

“They’re talented,” Prelock said. “Coach Carroll over here does a great job, they’ve got great athletes, and we’re just happy to come out on top with the win.”

For Notre Dame Prep, the Saints now sit at 6-1 on the season. They’ll now start preparing for Cactus Shadows at home next week. Prelock noted that the entire 5A Northeast Valley Region is stacked with talent, so they have to play as close to perfect as they can each week.

“We try to take everything one day at a time,” Prelock said. “One practice at a time, one practice rep at a time. One play at a time. One game at a time. We don’t look ahead to the future or anything like that, we just focus on the task at hand and make sure that we’re executing and doing everything in our power to be successful on that day.”

Meanwhile for Chaparral, the Firebirds sit at 4-3 overall and will prepare to host Desert Mountain next week.

“I thought we were ready to play tonight, just kinda got away from us,” Carroll said. “I thought our atmosphere was great for a Thursday night game. I love coaching here. I think we’re building something special playing in big games like this against a really good Notre Dame team, which in the past, would have been an extra, extra blowout. So, we’re getting there, but we’ve got a long way to go.”

Brittany Bowyer is a Report for America corps member, covering sports for Independent Newsmedia in Arizona. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions.