Gridiron Weekly (Semifinals): Centennial 37 Queen Creek 32

The road warriors from Peoria Centennial have one more trip east to make. The past three weeks, the Coyotes have traveled to Red Mountain, Casteel, and Queen Creek. Next Saturday, the bus can stop when it gets to Tempe.

That’s because 14th-seeded Centennial has advanced to the 6A Conference championship game with a wild 37-32 win over Queen Creek on Friday.

Centennial (6-7) controlled much of the first half before Queen Creek (10-3) finished it with an 11-point flurry in the final 20 seconds. That made the margin 16-11 at the break. Early In the fourth quarter, junior running back Owen Reynoso had a pair of touchdown runs to give the Coyotes a 37-18 lead.

But the Bulldogs wouldn’t go silently as Crew Leavitt brought a kick return back 92 yards for a score. When junior quarterback Tait Reynolds connected with Kace Grimmer on a 26-yard strike with just over four minutes remaining, Queen Creek had closed that margin to five points.

The Bulldogs successfully executed two onside kicks during the game and immediately got possession back with a chance to take its first lead of the night. However, the Coyotes’ defense stood tall, stopping Queen Creek on a fourth-and-three play from the Centennial 48-yards line. Aaron Alvarez made the tackle on Reynolds on the critical fourth-down play.

It’s been an uncharacteristic season for Centennial. The Coyotes brought in several transfers that weren’t eligible until Week 6 and played the most difficult non-region schedule in the state. The reason for the road games is that Centennial finished the regular season at 3-7.

“From 0-4 to going to the championship, that most certainly says a great deal about senior leadership, about the kids following along with them, and our coaches coaching them just as if we were undefeated,” Centennial head coach Richard Taylor said. “It was just a continuation of what we do. No one quit. All the kids came every day and that’s tough when you’re 0-4 and you’re being told you’re the worst team Centennial ever produced.”

Centennial junior quarterback Kainan Manna completed 12-of-19 passes for 133 yards and he ran for a touchdown in the third quarter. Three backs each had over 50 yards with Darrion Batholomey (1 TD), Jhaheem Brown, and Owen Reynoso (2 TDs) each eclipsing that mark. Senior Shamar Berryhill had four receptions for 76 yards.

“Credit to the O-Line,” Reynoso said of the help he had in an early fourth-quarter touchdown run. “They blocked that really well. I saw a hole, I saw a blocker, and walked in the end zone.”

Centennial played in the Open final in 2023, coming up short to Liberty. That spurred returning players to make sure they get a different ending this year.

“It’s exciting,” Reynoso said. “It’s a different kind of feeling this year that we know we can come back and make history.”

In the 6A Conference championship game, Centennial will face No. 4 seed Mountain View (12-1), which beat top-seeded Brophy 28-27 in the other semifinal.

The 6A Conference championship game will take place at 1 p.m. Dec. 7 (next Saturday) at Mountain America Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University. Centennial is in its 13th state championship game with all of them coming in the past 20 seasons.

Centennial scored on each of its four first-half possessions. The last three were all field goals by Alvarez.

I’ve been kicking for seven years now,” Alvarez said. “When I go out there, I know I’m going to make it. That’s why we’re so confident going into fourth downs and taking the field goals.”

In addition to kicking, Alvarez also plays linebacker. He said the focus for the defense during the week was on containing the mobile Reynolds.

“We called a Mike cross blitz,” Alvarez said of the stop on the last fourth-down play. “We knew all week the running back would come out and the quarterback would follow. My coaches put in 70 hours a week. If it weren’t for my coaches, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

As a team, Centennial rushed for 207 yards. All four of the Coyotes’ touchdowns came on the ground.

Comebacks were no strangers to Queen Creek this year. The Bulldogs have had a few games in which they’ve come back from multiple scores, including last week’s quarterfinal against Pinnacle. In that one, QCHS trailed 14-0 before rallying.

‘We just didn’t get enough stops and we didn’t make enough plays on offense,” Queen Creek head coach Travis Schureman said.

It was a remarkable turnaround for the Bulldogs in 2024 as they went 3-8 just one year ago.

“If anyone in the state thought we’d be here, they’d be lying to you,” Schureman said. “No one ever thought that our kids would be here playing in the semifinals against a great Centennial team with all kinds of kids that moved in. We have 37 seniors who stayed here and I’m proud of that.”

One of the returning players for next season for Queen Creek is Reynolds, who is committed to Clemson. He finished the night 14-of-22 for 234 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also got around the edge for a 20-yard touchdown run.