Peoria vs Kellis does not carry the cachet of Peoria vs Cactus among alums and football families that stretch back generations. For the kids? Panthers are more likely to have played with and against Cougars growing up than Cobras. Kellis is one mile closer to the Peoria High campus, but circumstances never allowed Kellis-Peoria to blossom as a football rivalry at the same time the schools were having legendary boys basketball showdowns. The schools played twice as region rivals in 2009 and 2010. Then-Kellis coach Jason Golden helped set this up when he took over the Peoria program in early 2022 along with current Kellis coach Ben Kullos. Peoria won that game 21-17 at home. The rematch at Kellis found both teams expecting bigger things this year.
Sept. 1: Peoria 33, Kellis 26
THE STAKES
Injuries and inexperience derailed both teams 2022 seasons. Peoria started 3-1 and ended 3-7, Kellis started 1-5 and finished 5-5. A lot of the players were thrown into the breach last year and are back bigger, stronger and more mature. Kellis junior QB Ronald Coty and WR/LB Tristan Bacon received offers from the NAU, plus the Cougars have several experienced linemen returning. Peoria sophomore QB Dominic Kramer and RB Javon Bell appear ready for prime time, and the Panthers have a big new line that debuted well against Apache Junction. Momentum for playoff bids in their respective conferences was at stake. As was this – Peoria entered Kellis with a 3-0 advantage in the series.
THE SCENE
It was a rivalry game crowd, not on a Liberty-Sunrise Mountain or yes, Cactus-Peoria level. But the home crowd was up for it, more than any Kellis home crowd I’ve seen. Unfortunately for them, a cavalcade of first half mistakes left the Cougars faithful grumbling. They were a little bit shocked when Kellis’ comeback from a 33-13 deficit materialized late in the third quarter and early fourth but quickly caught the wave and was raucous until the Panthers preserved their one-touchdown lead in the final five minutes.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
This is a really tough choice. Peoria got a solid contribution from several players. I thought about awarding senior safety Luis Agamez, who had 10 total tackles and the first of the Panthers’ two interceptions. But in the end I’m awarding the honor to the 215-pound Bell, who scored a touchdown and chugged his way to three-yard gains most of the night. But after Peoria made a fourth down stop to thwart Kellis with just under five minutes left Bell took center stage. His 58-yard burst on a simple draw brought the Panthers near the red zone and allowed them to kill the clock. He finished with 17 carries for 128 yards and a touchdown.
PLAY OF THE NIGHT
While the defensive stop and Bell’s run were good candidates, as well as senior Quintin Sullivan’s third down catch that allowed the Panthers to keep the ball and not have to attempt a field goal in the final minute were all big, the opening kickoff was the true trend setter for the whole night. Sophomore receiver David Rojas fielded the kick and set up a reverse to freshman Dontay Tyson Jr. That fooled enough Cougars that Tyson got a lane to his sideline and dashed for the 95-yard touchdown. Peoria would never trail and Kellis was chasing the game all night, and probably straying too far from their zone-read based run scheme in an effort to catch up, especially after Agamez intercepted Coty and returned the pick to the Kellis 12. That set up Bell’s touchdown and Peoria led 14-0 with only 10:40 left in the first quarter.
THEY SAID IT
Peoria senior WR Quintin Sullivan on a 10-yard reception to put away the game: "The corner was playing five yards off and inside. We have a play where I run a 12 out and I took levreage of that and told my coach about it," Sullivan said.
"Me and Dom have a really good connection. We put in wotk, just us, for two or three hours at a time in the summer. I think Dom's a great quarterback. It may not look like it in the stats but he made really good reads today and threw no picks," Sullivan said.
Sophomore RB Javon Bell: "They were getting low tackles on me because I was running too high. They did a good job of stopping me," Bell said. "The 58-yard play, I just saw an opening and took it. I was fighting for my team. My seniors really depended on me. To see them run up to me and happy was great."
"Even though they came back, we could still come back and have that fight and not put our heads down. Last year, there was a lot of putting our heads down. Now this team's a brotherhood," Bell said.
Kellis coach Ben Kullos: "I'm proud of the fact that we battled back. To know that this was a one-score game where we had a chance to tie it, that's incredible," Kullos said. "There was 11 minutes left and we were down 13 points."
"No one was trying to mess anything up. It was just sloppy. We dug ourselves in a two-score hole early, then battled back, just to throw a pick six," Kullos said. "The last four minutes of the first half still sealed our fate in a way."
"That's what I was preaching at halftime. You guys have to let the game come to you. In a big, emotional game like this, everyone wants to go out and make the play and sometimes they try to make someone else's play," Kullos said. "Peoria has a good things going over there, with some young talent. We have some young talent too with juniors all over the field. I'm looking forward to the game next year."
"Sixteen points have nothing to do with the 11 on defense. We lost a two-way starter this week (Tristan Bacon) to just a freak injury in practice. It's an ankle sprain and he might be back next week," Kullos said. "Defensively, we knew they wanted to sling the ball around. Even on the check downs, we did a good job of rallying to them. We got into too many third and mediums. I'm going to guess we weren't too good on third downs."
Peoria coach Jason Golden: "The fourth down stop down here was huge. We needed to be in a game like this. Injuries are going to be part of the game, but having some young kids that are used to always being front runners and being the best guy on their team. Now they had to face some adversity, so it was cool to see them dig deep. And it was cool to see our seniors lead. I don't think Jose Cisneros left the field except for a few plays in the second half. I don't know how we won the game only scoring two points in the second half."
"Our offensive coordinator (Chris Miranda) delivered his baby at 2 a.m.," Golden said. "I'm a little emotional right now because it was cool to see our leadership step up when our offensive coordintor wasn't there. That's what this is all about."
"Kellis could have folded their tent at halftime. They're well coached, they're strong and they've got great athletes. They're going to go on a win a bunch of games this year," Golden said.
"For me, coaching here 10 years, it was really weird being on that sideline. But at the end of the day it's about the kids. And I made sure it was about them, and trying to get Peoria back to being Peoria," Golden said.
5 THINGS I LEARNED
1. Peoria’s offense wasn’t as explosive as in week 1 and didn’t need to be. Between Tyson’s kickoff return, junior cornerback Damion Garcia’s 18-yard interception return touchdown on a Coty swing pass that glanced off a running back’s hand and a safety to open the second half on a snap well over Coty’s head, the Panthers’ defense and special teams accounted directly for 16 points. Add in the Agamez interception return setting up the 12-yard drive and it’s 23 points. As Golden astutely pointed out, that opening kickoff return gave his team even more great field position as Kellis went with squib or onside kicks the rest of the way. The drive to set up Rigoberto Camacho’s 35-yard field goal started at the Peoria 40, while the one that ended with sophomore Cristian Carillo’s 7-yard TD run started at the Panthers’ 38.
2. With leads of 14-0 and 31-13 set up by defensive and special teams, and Bell and the offensive line chugging away, Kramer did not need to look downfield much. Also Kellis planned to take away the deep ball. No Peoria completion was longer than 12 yards But Kramer (12-18, 93 yards) was efficient and nailed his most crucial throw of the night, that 10-yard out to Sullivan.
3. PHS played well defensively, and is learning to adjust without Jacob Samarripas. The captain and leading returning tackler will miss his senior season after tearing the ACL in practice. New starters like Agamez, and junior linebackers Desean Williams (7 tackles) and Nehemiah Ward (7 tackles) have grown up quick. Cisneros gives the Panthers a stout defensive tackle to draw some attention away from pass rusher Gabe Rodriguez, who picked up his second sack.
4. Kellis’ defense held the Panthers to less than 250 yards and was fairly sound all night. They finally gave the offense its own short field when senior safety Marcos Murietta forced a fumble on a screen pass and senior linebacker Jeremiah McClaren recovered it at the Panthers’ 41. Senior linebacker Bryce Bacon (11 tackles) limited big plays,
5. The Cougars’ offense was digging out of a hole all night and probably threw the ball too much to try to catch up. They ran 26 times and threw 23 and this team is built to succeed when it runs at least 60 percent of the time. After falling down 33-13 on the high snap, Kellis decided to go back the ground, with eight ruins and two passes. Then after a couple Coty incompletions early in the fourth, sophomore Hector Cisneros burst for a 50-yard gain, giving Coty time to roll out and hit sophomore receiver Aiden Johnston for a 10-yard TD> Kellis doesn’t have one guy that should carry the ball 20-plus times a night behind its physical o-line but, McClaren (6 carries, 78 yards) and Cisneros (7 for 67) are enough of a threat that defenses can’t just sell out to stop Coty as a runner (13 carries for 87 yards).
