Photo By Darwin Weech: Tuddy Smart scores one of his three touchdowns on the night to help Pima defeat San Tan Charter, 52-49 to move onto the 2A State Championship game against Scottsdale Christian.
“We’ve got some horses out there and I had to tell them, ‘Hey, we’re gonna ride those horses to this victory’ and that’s what we did.”
Pima head coach Josh Wilkins
By Jon Johnson
MESA – Second-year head coach Josh Wilkins and the Pima Roughriders will look to make it two in a row on Saturday, Nov. 25, as they will take on the No. 3 Scottsdale Christian Eagles in the 2A State Championship at Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee, starting at 2 p.m.
The No. 1 Roughriders (13-0) hung on to victory in a tough semifinal matchup with No. 5 San Tan Charter, 52-49, while Scottsdale Christian (11-2) bested No. 2 Arizona Lutheran 23-16 in the other semifinal. The two teams met early in the regular season with Pima taking the 23-20 win on Sept. 1.
Pima 52 San Tan Charter 49
The most exciting game of the day was a shock to the Pima faithful who traveled in droves to support their team. Pima and San Tan both slugged it out in the pits defensively and had big-time offensive plays in a game that was a lot closer than initially thought would be.
Pima found itself in an unfamiliar spot as the Roughriders had to come back in the fourth quarter to advance to the championship.
“We were in a situation that we haven’t been in this year, and that was being down at halftime,” said Pima head coach Josh Wilkins. “We went in there a little unsure of what to feel. It’s something we haven’t been before, and we had to pull those guys aside. We’ve got some horses out there and I had to tell them, ‘Hey, we’re gonna ride those horses to this victory’ and that’s what we did.”
San Tan senior quarterback Zayden Neill started with a pick-6 to Pima senior Sam Ray but brushed it off to end up accounting for all seven of the Roadrunner’s scores.
Neill went 18-24 through the air for 327 yards with 5 passing TDs and 2 INTs. Receiver Daniel Dippre had 8 catches for 126 yards and 2 TDs, Uriah Neloms (junior) had 6 catches for 122 yards and 2 TDs, and Maison Coffman caught a 37-yard TD.
Neill also led San Tan’s rushing attack with 90 yards on 13 carries and 2 rushing TDs. Running back Cayne Ramirez (sophomore) finished with 60 yards on 13 carries.
Offensively for Pima, Tuddy Smart had 194 all-purpose yards, including 113 yards on kickoff returns, 66 yards rushing, and 15 yards receiving, and 3 TDs. Smart ran back a kickoff for a pivotal TD in the fourth quarter.
Pima freshman QB Cedrick Grimes went 6-9 for 37 yards, one fumble, and a TD for a QB rating of 111.8. Grimes was helped by a cadre of running backs, led by Jeremiah Martinez (junior) who had 109 yards on 18 carries and a TD, Hayden Blair, who had a big 79-yard TD run and Smart, who had 6 carries for 66 yards and 2 rushing TDs.
Defensively, Brock Haws anchored a staunch defensive line and got personal with Neill on occasion. Haws finished with 3.5 sacks and had 2 solo tackles as well. Preston Russell also got in on a sack, and Pepper Hughes was credited with 1.5 sacks but probably had a bit more.
“We know we’re a good group of kids,” Brock Haws said. “We all worked hard in the summer. We all got our spot on varsity, so we knew that we’re in this game and that we should be in the championship, so we just go balls to the wall all the way. Don’t take plays off.”
In the backfield, Sam Ray had a pick-6 INT, and Ryker Shupe took an interception back 20 yards to help seal the victory in the 4th quarter.
After Ray’s defensive score, Neill got the Roadrunners to a first and goal with a deep shot to Brody Prassas, and then on second and goal from the 8 Neill scrambled for San Tan’s first score. The extra point was good and Pima held a slim, 1-point advantage, 8-7 with 3:43 left in the opening quarter.
Ray then got Pima’s first offensive score as well when he caught a 15-yard pass from Grimes to the corner of the end zone. Grimes looked off the defense who bit on the screen and then came back to the opposite side of the field to Ray, who had gotten a step on his defender from the fake. The conversion attempt was no good and Pima was up 14-7.
Not for long, however, as Neill did it with his legs again and finished the next drive with an 18-yard scramble into the end zone to tie the game up at 14-14.
The teams continued to go back and forth in the second with Pima utilizing rushing from Jeremiah Martinez to bring the ball back into scoring position. Smart finished the drive with the first of his three TDs on the night, and Martinez added the 2-point conversion to go up 22-14 with 6:05 left in the half.
Pima looked to go into halftime with the lead, however, after initially being stymied, Neill found Daniel Dippre at midfield to move the sticks on a 3rd and 9. The pair then hooked up again as Dippre was wide open over the middle and he took the Neill offering 39 yards to the house to make it a 1-point game again with Pima still up, 22-21.
The Roadrunners then stole a possession as Maison Coffman recovered the onside kick. San Tan then went into its 2-minute offense and on 3rd and 5 Neill chucked one deep to the right corner and Coffman caught it for the TD. Neill then hit Dippre for the 2-point conversion and the underdog San Tan Charter Roadrunners took a 29-22 lead into halftime and would receive the second-half kick.
The Roughriders’ defense held on the first series of the third quarter, as Neill’s pass on 4th and 7 deep downfield was just out of reach of Uriah Neloms.
The Roadrunners’ defense would get the ball right back, however, as Dippre came on a blindside blitz and Grimes never saw him coming. Dippre forced a sack/fumble and while I initially was concerned about Grimes being hurt on the play he seemed more upset with the result and returned to the game.
Pima’s D-line returned the favor and finally got to Neill for a 5-yard loss on the sack and forced a punt. Then it was time to “unleash the horses,” according to coach Wilkins, who said they did what they could to get the ball into their playmakers’ hands in good positions.
“We were shifting lines around; we were doing everything we could to put the ball behind the horses, in the horse hand, and just set up some counters and set up some great plays,” Wilkins said.
On the second play after the punt, Hayden Blair got the handoff on the counter and took off down the left sideline. He outran everyone from San Tan and went untouched (you have to see the highlight in the video) 79 yards for the score. Martinez added the 2-point conversion and Pima was back on top, 30-29 with 3:15 left in the third quarter.
But San Tan wouldn’t go away gently and facing a 3rd and 11 from their own 36, Neill stepped up in the pocket under pressure and hit Neloms at the Roughrider’s 25. Neloms raced it in from there and we’ve got a lead change again as San Tan goes up 35-30 with just 42 seconds left in the quarter.
The whirlwind didn’t stop there, however, as coach Wilkins elected to force the Roadrunners to re-kick after their first attempt went out of bounds. When that occurs, the receiving team can take the ball at the 35-yard line or move the kicking team back 5 yards and make them kick it again.
Well, Tuddy Smart is glad he did because he gathered the kickoff at about the 22 and went straight up the gun with it. Only the kicker was in his way and all it took was one juke to the right to get him going that way and Smart zipped by on his left 78 yards to pay dirt to put Pima up 38-35 with 32 seconds left in the third.
Pima then forced a punt but on 4th and 4 from their own 39 Pima attempted a fake punt but Jeremiah Martinez was brought down just short, giving the ball back to the Roadrunners in Roughriders’ territory.
Neill made them pay for it and finished the short drive with a 19-yard TD pass to Dippre. San Tan retook the lead 42-38 with 7:53 to play, but it would be the last time.
Pima went back to its biggest horse, fullback Martinez, and rode him down the field. Martinez then refused to go down and scored on a 17-yard run in which a San Tan player hit him while Martinez was already in the end zone and fell awkwardly on his ankle. Martinez was assisted off the field with an ankle injury. Wilkins believed he would be good to go for the championship game. The ensuing 2-point attempt failed, but Pima had retaken the lead, 44-42, with 5:22 left to play.
Then it was time for the defense to step up and they did so with the defensive line getting two sacks in a row to force a 4th and 28.
Instead of punting, Neill stood back and chucked a deep pass that Ryker Shupe centerfielded for the INT and returned it 20 yards.
The Roughriders capitalized on the turnover as Grimes faked the handoff to Martinez and instead gave it to Smart going the other way. Smart zipped 35 yards for this third TD and that with Shupe’s 2-point conversion put Pima up 52-42 with 2:53 to play.
“These boys – we’ve said it (before) – they refuse to lose,” Wilkins said. “They’re on a mission. They play like men out there. (I’m) super proud of them.”
And the Roadrunners refused to quit as well and Neill quickly brought San Tan to midfield on a 20-yard run. A couple of plays later, and he hit Dippre down to the 12. From there he found Neloms in the back of the end zone and San Tan cut into Pima’s lead, 52—49, but without any timeouts, the Roadrunners had to recover the ensuing onside kick. Sure hands receiver Sam Ray was there to corral the attempt, however, and seal the victory for Pima.
“It feels amazing man,” Brock Haws said. “I mean, that’s the goal. Back to back? Not (many) people have done it.”
Pima looks to cap an unbeaten season and win its 26th game in a row as it takes on Scottsdale Christian for the 2A State Football Championship on Saturday, Nov. 25, at Mountain Pointe High School, at 4201 E. Knox Rd., Phoenix, starting at 2 p.m.
