Miraculous play, awakenings, big drives: Arizona high school football Week 6 rewind

There was a bang-bang play that was the stuff of movies and miracles. There was a California awakening for two teams with Open title aspirations. There were revelations. There were heartbreaks, incredible finishes and big statements.

There is so much to unload and break down in Week 6 of the Arizona high school football season.

What we learned

Peoria Liberty and Scottsdale Saguaro went into Southern California, finding out more about themselves over one night than they did over the course of the first four weeks of the season. Liberty lost to Corona Centennial 42-35, after watching a 35-21 lead slip away.

Saguaro got hammered by Sierra Canyon 63-6 in maybe the worst score in school history, or at least since the Sabercats got rolling as a dynasty in 2007. That score in Chatsworth was absolutely shocking. But a trend was set on the first play of the game when Wyatt Becker tossed an 80-yard touchdown pass, one of his school-record seven TD throws on the night. It was 49-6 by halftime.

Saguaro helped Sierra Canyon by turning the ball over and giving it good field position.

Saguaro ran only nine offensive plays, before getting down 21-0. Guessing this was payback from two years ago when Sierra Canyon came to Saguaro and lost 24-7.

In Corona, Liberty once again wasn't able to finish a game that it had won. Just like last year in the Open semifinals, when it let a two-touchdown lead get away in the final quarter in a 43-42 loss to Saguaro, Liberty blew a 35-21 lead, and let Centennial (3-2) go 80 yards in the final minutes to win the game, after Liberty was stopped after having a first-and-goal from Centennial's 8. That should have been the dagger. But that stop will end up being a lesson learned.

The Lions (4-1) won't lose ground in Arizona rankings. They're still far and away the No. 1 team in the state. But the California trip was good in a way that the starters needed to play four quarters for the first time this season. The Lions' defense forced five turnovers. But they couldn't stop running back Cornell Hatcher, who ran 30 times for 289 yards and four TDs, including the game-winner with 30 seconds left. There's a false sense of security when you're blowing out every team you face in Arizona and the starters are removed by the third quarter with a running clock.

The bottom line is both Centennial and Sierra Canyon are nationally elite teams. Centennial, with its only losses to No. 1 Mater Dei and No. 2 Bishop Gorman, is Top 25 in the nation. Sierra Canyon (5-0) should be Top 25. Liberty should still be in the Top 25 after this. Now the starters know what it's like to play a full game. And they'll learn. For Saguaro, it's time to hit the reset button, because it has to respond in a positive way if they want to make another run to the Open final. It's not like the Sabercats come back home for an easy game. They've got 5-0 Peoria Centennial next.

"This game will make us stronger and fuel the motivation to get better daily," Saguaro coach Zak Hill said.

Biggest takeaway

Gilbert Highland (3-2) won't be an Open team if it keeps gift-wrapping games to other teams. It had Chandler on the ropes, but the Wolves cashed in on an interception, returning it for a touchdown in a 22-20 win. That wasn't why Highland lost. Credit Chandler's defense. But it was no surprise Highland could hang with 5-0 Chandler. It plays a nasty brand of defense itself that will keep it in games against the best. But a week after shocking the state with a 22-21 win over defending Open champion Chandler Basha, the Hawks lost to Lone Peak, Utah, 35-24 with Kalen Fisher throwing six interceptions, four of which were returned for touchdowns. If Fisher can do a better job protecting the ball, this could be the most dangerous team in the Open playoffs. Coach Brock Farrel does a tremendous job building his team up for big games, and Kody Cullimore can impact the game on offense and defense to make the Hawks an Open title contender, not just a team going for a third straight 6A title.

Best response

After a drama-filled week, in which Cedric Jones took his son Marcel, a sophomore starting quarterback, off the team and transferred him over to Saguaro, Scottsdale Chaparral responded with a 38-21 win over Phoenix Desert Vista. Senior quarterback Luciano Madda delivered in his first varsity start with 307 yards and three touchdowns passing. It was a carryover from the 37-20 loss the previous week to Brophy Prep, when Madda replaced Jones in the final two minutes and drove Chaparral 80 yards for a touchdown, connecting on six of seven passes for 68 yards and a TD. He then connected on the two-point pass. Coach Doug Niseson was going to make it a competition between Jones and Madda in practice to see who starts against Desert Vista, before Jones left with his father claiming it had to do with the booster club.

Biggest play

What American Leadership Queen Creek senior quarterback Enoch Watson did in the final seconds of his team's heart-stopping 29-28 win over Phoenix Pinnacle on Friday night conjured images of the late great Franco Harris and the "immaculate reception" in the 1972 AFC playoff game, where the Pittsburgh Steelers running back caught a ball on a desperation pass from Terry Bradshaw that bounced off the helmet of Oakland Raiders safety Jack Tatum and into the hands of Harris, who ran for the touchdown for a 13-7 win. Except Watson caught his own pass. From the Pinnacle 19, on third down, Watson's pass hit off the hand of a defender, and ricocheted off the helmet of one of his linemen. Watson caught the ball and broke three tackles on his way into the end zone for the touchdown with 13 seconds left. Former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Ty Detmer, who is the head coach of ALA Queen Creek, said he's seen quarterbacks catch their own batted passes before. But never in a crucial point of a game. "And then to make a run he did, breaking two to three tackles was crazy," he said.

Best defensive game plan

What Brophy Prep did in its 42-17 win over Notre Dame Prep showed how complete a team it is, that it can make a deep run in the 6A playoffs, if it doesn't get into the Open playoffs based on that crazy finish that was won, then suddenly lost to Williams Field. The Broncos' defense was great against Notre Dame Prep, especially keeping talented junior wide receiver Cooper Perry in check. Perry was held to just 19 yards on five catches. And Notre Dame was just 1 of 10 on third downs. But now comes the most challenging game of the year, a trip to Basha on Thursday to try to figure out a way to keep senior QB Demond Williams Jr. from going off. In Basha's 48-14 rout of Phoenix Sandra Day O'Connor, Williams was 15 of 16 passing for 356 yards and six TDs. He ran for 54 yards and a TD, He did all of this in the first half, watching the rest of the game from the sideline. Two weeks ago, Williams was 21 of 22 for 268 yards and four TDs in a rout of Mesa Mountain View. And the week before that, he accounted for all five of Basha's TDs in a 35-31 win over Saguaro. "It's on another level," Basha coach Chris McDonald texted about Williams' string of great performances. The University of Arizona coaches can't wait to have him.

Republic exclusive: Beyond the Gridiron: Basha

Around the state

• Lakeside Blue Ridge (4-1) held off Safford for a 14-13 win. The last three Blue Ridge games were decided by a total of five points. That includes the 28-27 loss to Cottonwood Mingus that was decided on a last-second Hail Mary, 50-yard pass. "Our defense has a lot of grit and we hang our hat on it," coach Jeremy Hathcock said. "Still starting four sophomores, but our kids are hungry and they love each other and they love to practice."

• Out of time outs, Phoenix Northwest Christian drove 80 yards in the last two minutes, setting up a walk-off, 22-yard field goal by Cameron Mains as time expired to beat Mesa Eastmark 37-35 to keep the Crusaders (5-0) unbeaten. Northwest was down 14 in the first few minutes of the game, but "the boys did not panic."

• Without starting quarterback Hezekiah Millender, Goodyear Desert Edge got after it defensively and got a solid performance from QB Tyrell Husband (12 of 20 for 137 yards and three TDs) in a 21-7 win over Sunnyslope to improve to 4-1.

• Surprise Paradise Honors QB Gage Baker once again was on fire, this time with the Panthers beating No. 1 (3A) Chandler Valley Christian 52-33 for the first time in its history. Baker threw seven TD passes a week after throwing 10 TD passes in a rout of Show Low. Isaiah Thomas continued his torrid pace, as well. In the last four games, he has had 664 receiving yards and 10 TDs. And he's a running back.

• On a night of revelations, Glendale Cactus found one in QB Antonio Casias, making his first start after rotating the first four weeks. He was 20 of 29 for 358 yards and four TDs with one interception in a 41-7 rout of rival Peoria. WR Nikko Boncore had 10 catches for 168 yards and two scores.

• Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain gave coach Bob Young his 200th career win in a 41-28 win over Apache Junction. He began his head coaching career in the 1990s at Cottonwood Mingus, where he led the school to a 4A title in 1997. Gabriel Ricketts made sure Young reached the milestone He had 139 rushing yards and two TDs, a receving score and a fumble recovery. AJ's Aiden DeLeon passed for 350 yards and two TDs and ran for 110 yards and a score.

• Khameron Athy, the talented transfer from Tennessee, celebrated his 18th birthday by running for 201 yards and three TDs in Phoenix Central's 43-22 win over Phoenix North Canyon.

Game of the Week

ALA Queen Creek (4-1) at Phoenix Mountain Pointe (4-1), Friday, 7 p.m.

It's been the Enoch Watson show at American Leadership Queen Creek in its first year in 6A. But how will the BYU-bound QB and the rest of the Patriots team do against a Mountain Pointe team ready to unleash 27 transfers who now become eligible?

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Miraculous play, awakenings, big drives in Week 6 high school football