No. 12 Red Mountain rallies from 21-0 deficit, shocks No. 1 Brophy in OT in 6A semifinal

No. 1-seeded Brophy Prep had seen this heartbreak before. But not with so much at stake.

A year after having a 17-0 lead wiped out in a first-round 6A playoff loss to Red Mountain, the Lions again rallied, this time from a 21-0 deficit, and ended up defeating Brophy in overtime, 36-35, Friday night.

Red Mountain tailback Isaiah Savoie's fourth touchdown run, followed by a two-point conversion barreling through a defender into the end zone.

Savoie's powerful run had Red Mountain players celebrating on Central's Ray Laing Field in another improbable comeback by the No. 12-seeded Lions, who finally will take a record better than .500 (7-6) into next Saturday's 6A championship football game at Mountain America Stadium against No. 3 Saguaro.

The Sabercats defeated No. 2 Salpointe in the other Friday semifinal, 42-24, in Tucson.

More: High school football 6A, 5A, 4A semifinals: Scores, who plays in championship games?

Brophy (10-3) came into the playoffs the top seed, and looked the part after dominating most of the first half, building a 21-0 lead, before Red Mountain scored late in the half.

"The sideline the whole time, it's 21-0, we keep saying, 'We're good guys. We just need a stop. Keep giving the offense the ball. Let's get it to halftime,' " Red Mountain coach Kyle Enders said.

The Lions cut it to 21-7 before the break on Simon Lopez's 26-yard scoring pass to Bode Wagner with less than two minutes to play.

At the half, they could catch their breath and refocus, knowing they've overcome large deficits before. It was Savoie and a determined offensive line that powered the way.

"We knew we were getting the ball back and we were going to try to bully them," Enders said. "We were going to line up and run right at them, and we'll find out what they're made of. When we went down, and I don't know how many plays it was, we had no doubt after that."

It took Red Mountain 12 plays to start the second half for Savoie to score the first of his four touchdowns, finding the end zone from 4 yards out.

Brophy's offense kept sputtering until Savoie scored two more touchdowns, from 1-yard out with 7:24 left in the game that tied the game at 21, and a 10-yarder with 3:37 to play that gave the Lions a 28-21 lead. Red Mountain's tying touchdown was set up by one of the wildest plays of the season with Lopez escaping defenders to find Wagner along the sideline for 27 yards. The trying drive also was aided by a personal foul on Brophy.

The go-ahead TD was helped after a shanked punt gave Red Mountain the ball on Brophy's 30.

The Broncos, unraveling, appeared shell-shocked.

Then, quarterback Charlie McGinnis engineered a 75-yard scoring drive, aided by a Red Mountain penalty in the red zone and capped by McGinnis' 5-yard pass to sophomore Devin Fitzgerald (the son of former Cardinals great Larry Fitzgerald) in the end zone. The extra point tied the game at 28 with a minute left.

After neither team threatened the rest of regulation, Brophy went first in overtime, starting at the Red Mountain 10.

Carlos Estrada ran seven yards, before McGinnis took it in for a 35-28 lead.

During Red Mountain's turn, after Savoie, taking a direct snap, barreling in from the 3, Enders left it up to Savoie to win it with the two-point conversion. Again, taking it in on a direct snap. Again, willing his way to the end zone.

"When he called the play on the two points, I was like, 'We got to get this in by any means necessary,' " said Savoie, who didn't become eligible until midway through the season due to his transfer move from Apache Junction. "I got there. It was blurry. I couldn't see anything. I don't know why. I got the ball. I found a crease. There was someone in there. I had to go through him to make it in the end zone."

It was the second straight overtime win for Red Mountain, which upset Pinnacle 27-24 last week. In the first round, Red Mountain had to make a huge defensive stop deep in Mountain View territory to hold on for a 20-14 win.

Lopez, playing with a nagging hamstring injury, made a huge play during the comeback, finding Wagner for a 27-yard completion after twisting and turning and changing directions to avoid a sack.

"This means so much, going 4-6 (in the regular season) and people doubting us," Lopez said. "To get this three-game winning streak going against three really good teams, it means so much."

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: Red Mountain rallies from 21-0 deficit, shocks No. 1 Brophy in OT