Higley head football coach Eddy Zubey was the very picture of looking like he'd been there before as he lifted the gold ball trophy and handed it to his players.

That's how the Knights played for the last 2-1/2 quarters of the night, too.

Higley rallied from an early 21-6 deficit and then won every phase afterwards and, in doing so, rolled over Cactus, 41-21 on Friday in the Class 5A Conference state championship game at Sun Devil Stadium.

But Zubey, hadn't been here before. In his 13th year as the head man at HHS, he was coaching in his first state title game. Higley (12-2), which opened in 2001, claimed the first football state championship in school history.

First Quarter:
Hig - Jamar Malone 60 yard run (kick failed), 9:47
Cac - Damian Jiles 51 yard run (Aryn Prinz kick), 3:38
Cac - Nikko Boncore-Montoya 70 yard interception return (Prinz kick), 1:31
Second Quarter:
Cac - Will Galvan 17 yard run (Prinz kick), 8:57
Hig - Dax Hall 10 yard run (Konner Olson kick), 3:21
Hig - Kaden Millner 23 yard pass from Malone (Olson kick), 0:35
Third Quarter:
Hig - Hall 2 yard run (Olson kick), 7:44
Hig - Carter Hancock 33 yard pass from Malone (Olson kick), 5:43
Fourth Quarter:
Hig - Malone 1 yard run (Olson kick), 1:10