Late interception by Boncore-Montoya seals region title for Cobras
WEEKLY BLOG: 11/10/22
Cactus faced a stern test in its final 5A Desert West Region game on Thursday night at Desert Edge, but came away with a 20-14 win to claim the region title in Goodyear.
Cactus ends the regular season with five straight wins to finish 7-3 and a 4-0 in region. Desert Edge finishes 7-3 overall and 3-1.
The Cobras, in their first year within the 5A Conference after moving up from 4A, will be making their 22nd consecutive playoff appearance and first with Brian Belles as head coach. CHS rebounded from an 0-2 start and a late September defeat to Basha to win out in October and November.
Turning Point
Desert Edge had the ball and a 14-12 lead with just over nine minutes remaining following an interception by Jaylen Dawson. The Scorpions drove to the Cactus 36-yard line and went for it on fourth-and-five. Will Galvan, Cactus' jack of all trades athlete, was playing corner against Kezion Dia-Johnson and deflected the pass. Galvan was the Cobras' quarterback the past two years. The turnover on downs gave Cactus the ball back with a little more than five minutes to go.
Tight First Half
Cactus took a 12-7 lead at halftime behind a pass from Rudy Gonzales to Polo Banuelos and a run from Galvan. The first score was a 15-yard play and the second was with Galvan lined up behind center taking the direct snap, changing direction on his way to the end zone.
The first score came following a defensive stop on fourth-and-one from the Cactus 37-yard line. Two other times, the Scorpions drove inside Cactus' half of the field, but the Cobras' defense came up big to stop them on downs.
Late in the first quarter, Banuelos intercepted a pass, which the offense turned into points with the Galvan run early in the second quarter.
Desert Edge answered with a long pass from sophomore Hezekiah Millender to a wide open Dia-Johnson for a 63-yard strike. The Scorpion junior receiver had nine catches for 139 yards.
Top Play
It's that first-half Desert Edge score. It was Millender's 27th touchdown pass of the season.
Game MVP
Banuelos caught a touchdown pass for the Cobras' first touchdown, intercepted a pass that set up the second TD, and then scored the game-winner. He had just 14 carries through the first nine games, but had to step up due to an in-game injury to Damian Jiles. During the final scoring drive, Banuelos caught passes of 15 and 12 yards from Gonzales to get to the 22-yard line. From there, it was the same play call for runs of 12 and 10 yards to put the Cobras back in the lead.
Banuelos, a senior, caught five passes for 54 yards and had six carries for 30 yards. They may not seem like big numbers, but they were clutch ones and had impact both offensively and defensively.
Baby Draco
Desert Edge running back Christopher Cordero finished the game with 190 yards on 30 carries. 39 of them came on the third-quarter drive in which the Scorpions gained the lead. For the season, this was the fifth time the back known as "Baby Draco" to his teammates gained at least 160 yards.
What the coaches said
"Our first goal of the season is to win region," Belles said. "Desert Edge had not lost a region game in four years (20 straight wins), and well, neither have we. We feel that we've been pretty successful too. I think our kids and our coaching staff were the only ones that believed we could do that tonight."
"Goal number 2 is to make the playoffs," Belles said. "After that, it is what it is."
"To be playing on this big stage is special," Desert Edge co-coach Marcus Carter said. "We didn't come up on the right side of the scoreboard tonight, but if it was any team that I'd lose to, I'd have it be the team I started off with (as an assistant coach)."
"We had over 100 yards of penalties in the first half (some from personal fouls)," Carter said. "When you're playing good teams in the playoffs, it's hard enough that other teams want to beat you, but we can't beat ourselves."
What the players were saying
"We went down and scored and it's senior night," Boncore-Montoya (a sophomore) said. "It's a low-key rivalry with them and I just had to play for all my seniors tonight. When that ball went up in the air, it was mine. I knew it."
"We're all coming together and playing as a team," Boncore-Montoya said. "Our physicality has gone up and we just know we've got to get that golden ball."
"I knew I had to step up," Banuelos said. "Our line was amazing and stepped up and I'm proud of them."
"We're a tough team," Banuelos said. "We never give up. We're always fighting."
Up next
Both teams will compete in the 5A Conference playoffs. The first round begins next Friday. Gridiron Arizona projects Cactus to be a 5-seed and Desert Edge a 7-seed in the 16-team bracket.
NOTE: Cactus ended up a 4 seed and Desert Edge a 6 seed as ALA-Queen Creek qualified for the Open Division.
First Quarter:
Cac - Polo Banuelos 15 yard pass from Rudy Gonzales (kick failed), 7:57
Second Quarter:
Cac - Will Galvan 9 yard run (pass failed), 10:49
DE - Kezion Dia-Johnson 63 yard pass from Hezekiah Millender (Yovani Avitia kick), 9:11
Third Quarter:
DE - Christopher Cordero 2 yard run (Avitia kick), 8:43
Fourth Quarter:
Cac - Banuelos 10 yard run (Galvan run), 2:26
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