Today the Snowflake Lobos (10-3) and American Leadership Academy Gilbert North Eagles (11-2) will square off in the 4A State Championship game. If you're attending in person, the game is at Arizona State University's Sun Devil Stadium at 4:00pm. Tickets are $15, and parking is $10. You can find all in-person spectator information at this link.
For those wanting to watch the game online (you need an NFHSNetwork subscription), you can watch the game HERE. You can also listen to a radio broadcast on 1580 AM The Fanatic (also 95.9 and 99.3 FM), or download the 1580 App.
A Budding Rivalry
Snowflake and ALA Gilbert North met earlier this season, in a 31-21 Eagles win (they led 31-7 in the fourth quarter). You can watch a rebroadcast of that game on YouTube HERE.
Both teams were moved up from 3A, where Snowflake won back-to-back championships over Yuma Catholic in 2020 and 2021, and ALA Gilbert North lost in the semifinals in both of those seasons.
It's the 2020 semifinal, however, that sticks in the minds of ALA Gilbert North fans, as they lost a 28-27 contest that featured two controversial calls- one incomplete pass ruling in the end zone before the half (Adam Damante to Brandon Phelps- both still on the team), and one two-point conversion that was ruled short of the goal line at the end of overtime.
The Eagles did have a chance to win in regulation after coming back from down 21-7 in the fourth quarter, but missed a FG, and ended up losing in overtime.
2022 Path to the 'Ship
Neither team comes into the 4A Championship with an undefeated record, but both teams had long stretches of dominant football this season. Let's look at their paths to the 2022 title game:
SNOWFLAKE (10-3)
The Lobos opened up the season with a dominant win on the road against Northwest Christian, followed up by stealing a win in a 10-total-turnover slopfest against rival Snowflake. In week 3, the Lobos exploded for than 300 yards rushing in a 49-10 blowout win against Glendale, and then started a four week run of struggle on the offensive side of the ball. After a 7-0 loss to Cactus, who is playing tonight in the 5A championship, they struggled to run the ball a 19-3 win over a solid Bradshaw Mountain team, and then lost back-to-back games against ALA Gilbert North and Apache Junction, failing to even score an offensive TD against the Prospectors.
Sitting at 4-3 overall and 0-2 in section, something clicked for the Lobos on both sides of the ball, and they rattled off six consecutive wins, allowing an incredible 4.3 points per game and snagging 14 interceptions defensively, and nearly 1500 yards rushing offensively. They initially switched to junior Brennan Bryant as their primary QB, but in the playoffs, have rotated in senior Easton Butler, who started out the season as the Lobos QB.
Last week, the Lobos scored all 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to come back and beat Canyon del Oro, 16-13.
ALA GILBERT NORTH (11-2)
After starting the season with a win against an out of state opponent in Henderson, Nevada, the Eagles opened against eventual 3A state champion Eastmark. I watched this game, and the Eagles were in control for long stretches, but a touchdown and two point conversion with 26 seconds left tied the game at 33, and Eastmark finished the game off in overtime to give the Eagles their first loss. The Eagles would lose only one more game, to 5A sister school ALA Queen Creek, who appeared in the Open Division Playoffs this year. That means that the Eagles were undefeated in 4A play this season (and also had a win over 6A Westwood), with an enormously lopsided 44-19 average margin of victory in those nine games. Defensively, the Eagles surrendered plenty of points, but a good chunk came when games were already out of hand. Even the Eagles only one-score game over their seven game win streak leading into this championship game involved Poston Butte scoring with less than a minute left to make the game 28-21.
Offensive Players to Watch
SNOWFLAKE
The Lobos have truly been an offense by committee. No receivers over 400 total yards (6-3, 240 WR Tyler Clare leads with 384). Neither Easton Butler nor Brennan Bryant threw for 1,000 yards, but both were responsible for leading the team to multiple wins. On the ground, Snowflake managed to get this far without a 1,000 yard rusher in a division that had nine of them, but Jett McCray has been consistent, and is 18th among all 4A running backs in total rushing yards. I don't want you to interpret this as Snowflake not having the ability to score, it's more that the scoring can come from a dozen different places, making it hard to prepare as a defense. Lately, Bradden Lewis has been making his presence felt, with two rushing scores in the semifinal win over Canyon del Oro, and 52% of his total offensive yards this season coming since the start of the 4A playoffs.
On the offensive line, both Slade Fish and Kyson Perry earned all-region honors. Amazingly, neither one is listed at over 200 pounds.
ALA GILBERT NORTH
Everything starts and ends with the connection between Senior QB and NAU commit Adam Damante, and Junior WR Brandon Phelps.
Adam Damante comes into the 4A championship 179 passing yards away from breaking the 4A record for most passing yards in a season (Anthony Hernandez, Desert Edge, 2013), five touchdown passes away from tying the record for most 4A passing TDs in a season (Luke Rubenzer, Saguaro, 2013), and his career TD/INT ratio of 11.9 is the best of any Arizona high school QB to ever throw for more than 100 touchdowns. (Luke Rubenzer is second at 10)
Brandon Phelps comes in with 26 receiving TDs on the season, tied for Elijah Marks 4A record, and tied for the second most TD reception anyone has ever had in a single season in Arizona High School football history.
They don't do it alone, however. Junior Tyton Slade had nearly 1,000 yards receiving, and pulled in 13 TDs, while junior Boston Morris scored 12 all-purpose TDs. In addition, Caleb Garrison and Zane Dilliard were voted all-region by the 4A East Sky coaches.
Defensive Players to Watch
SNOWFLAKE
There are a bunch of talented Lobo defenders, but the secondary is having a truly special season. Not only are they the only team to hold Adam Damante to under 280 yards passing in a game this season (185), they also held him to his lowest completion percentage (58.6%). Davyn McCray had a big interception in the 4A semifinal, and Bradon Frost leads the team with five interceptions on the season.
Jordan Bowers is the team sack leader with 8.5, and Braden LaDuke added 6.5, but the defense is built around LB Matthew Brimhall, who has an insane 202 tackles in 2022, with over a hundred being solo tackles and 25.5 of them for a loss. If the ball is stopped, the chances are, he's in the vicinity, if not the culprit. His highlights are below:
ALA GILBERT NORTH
Inside linebacker Zach Morton boasts 158 total tackles and three forced fumbles on an Eagles defense that is both opportunistic and athletic. Tyton Slade led the team with 9 interceptions, and has three separate multi-interception games this season.
The Eagles don't always get to the QB, but they do bring a lot of pressure. Max Wearne, Josh Guttermilch, and Luc Asay (also a member of the 2020 team that lost to Snowflake) are all players to watch.
A Deeper Look at the Coaches
SNOWFLAKE
Kay Solomon has been the Lobos head coach since 2015, and is on an 11-game playoff win streak, playing in his third consecutive championship game, and won 3A titles in 2020 and 2021. After losing his first three contests against rival Show Low (the first two to current ALA Gilbert North coach Randy Ricedorff), the Lobos have taken the rivalry game five years in a row.
ALA GILBERT NORTH
Randy Ricedorff doesn't get enough credit for helping to modernize Arizona High School football. Ricedorff's offense produced the stat's first ever 4,000 yard passer (Rathen Ricedorff) back in 2010, and before leaving Show Low for ALA Gilbert North, he had five different years of a top 11 passing yardage leader in the state of Arizona.
Ricedorff won two championships at Show Low, played in two others, and this year marks his 10th time reaching at least a semifinal round.
Quotable
A Lucky charm for the Lobos?
Snowflake might have a little bit of a good luck charm in the form of a fan from the great football state of Alabama. 48-year-old Jeffrey Allcorn, a truck driver and avid hat collector from Addison, Alabama, was perusing ebay when he came across a Snowflake Lobos hat being sold by a seller in Missoula, Montana. After making an offer, he acquired the hat, and then found out through an internet search that Snowflake was playing in the 4A playoffs. He joined the Snowflake Booster Club Facebook page to wish the team good luck, and they appreciated him so much that they flew him and his wife out to the championship game! I talked to Mr. Allcorn on the phone, and he couldn't believe how generous the Snowflake community has been.
"I got six hats and three shirts in the mail last Saturday," said Allcorn.
"I feel like I just won the lottery by buying an $11 hat," said Allcorn, who said he sees parallels between Snowflake and the town he grew up in. "It was never a question of whether you were going to the high school game on Friday night. If the game was out of town, the only question was where we were going to eat afterward."
Allcorn said he still thinks about his high school football coach Allen Stephenson "every single day," and one of his biggest influences was his father's high school football coach. "It was like hanging out with Bear Bryant. His name was A.G. Hicks, and he was an Alabama high school football coaching legend."
Allcorn said he's so used to negative stories that he's stopped watching the news, but that he hopes that a feel good story like this can bring the Snowflake community some good publicity. "I've always been a football fanatic... I can't wait to get out there and shake hands and kiss babies."
