The far Southwest Valley’s oldest school and its youngest never played until Friday night. It didn’t seem that way, and this game took on some extra intensity than might be expected for a late non-league game between a 5A and 4A team. Also it was Homecoming at Canyon View and the packed home stands in Waddell were amped. The party atmosphere continued until the final minutes of ….

Sept. 22: (4A) Buckeye (5-0) 37, (5A) Canyon View 36

THE STAKES

Both teams needed a win as they prepared for play in tough regions. Canyon View was happy to play a And the Jaguars4A team, even if Buckeye is one of the best 4A teams, after being run over in a wild 71-60 loss at 6A Queen Creek. The Jaguars were 2-2 and staring at Cactus, Millennium and Desert Edge in its next three games. Buckeye was 4-0 but didn’t want to lose with undefeated Northwest Christian and Yuma Catholic, then one-loss Thunderbird waiting.

THE SCENE

Canyon View pulled out all the stops for its Homecoming game. A DJ played the hits of the last 15 years and the large student section recited the lyrics at full volume. The DJ also gave me a shout out (which has to be a first). And the Jaguars gave them a lot to cheer about in the first three quarters. Senior quarterback Beau Devens hit a deep shot to senior receiver Jermaine Patterson to tie the game at 7. Junior receiver Ayden Lange returned a second quarter kickoff 87 yards for a score and 21-14 lead. Senior Brendan Suhy got a late second quarter pick and returned it 34 yards to set up another Devens touchdown pass to Patterson. Sophomore Jackson McCarthy sacked Zachary Bennett in the end zone for a third quarter safety and a 36-21 Canyon View lead.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

For most of the first 30 minutes it was a party. When senior tailback Nate Slocum took an option pitch from Devens 18 yards for a touchdown the Jaguars led 34-14 with 7:06 Remaining in the third quarter. It looked like the smaller school had run out of gas. But Buckeye had the best player on the field and senior receiver Darius Haskin simply took over. He returned the ensuing kickoff 68 yards for a touchdown, giving the Hawks hope at 34-21. With about 10 minutes remaining he throttled down on a 10-yard comeback route, caught the throw from senior quarterback Ricardo Juarez, spun and avoided a tackle before completing the 29-yard scoring play and cutting the deficit to 36-28. Then he added a rushing touchdown, scoring from four yards out on a delayed toss end around at 2:57. Pressure forced Juarez to rush his two-point conversion throw off Haskin’s fingertips but the Buckeye star converted a crucial third down and 3 play on the visitors' game winning drive.

"I told Darius at that specific point (the kickoff) that we need a return from you. Get me a return and we're back in this ball hame. He did exactly that. Hats off to the kick return team for blocking for him. It was awesome," Buckeye coach Puni Ellis said.

PLAY OF THE NIGHT

Two huge changes of possession, along with Haskin’s magic made the Buckeye comeback possible, and it’s hard to call either play more important. Canyon View had the ball on its 41 at the end of the third quarter, but Devens bobbled the snap and Buckeye fell on the ball at the Jaguars’ 39 for a shot of adrenaline entering the fourth. But the more I think about it, the play of the night – since it wasn’t a gift – was Buckeye’s recovery of an hybrid onside-squib kick at the Canyon View 41 with 2:57. After that happened the Hawks’ eventual win seemed inevitable, even along the Canyon View sidelines and to the increasingly fearful crowd.

Juarez

5 THINGS I LEARNED

· A shout out to Buckeye’s kicker is in order. Late in the first quarter, senior Rolando Negrete missed a 30-yard attempt. Canyon View scored on its 80-yard pass on the next play. Negrete sat on the sidelines for most of the next three quarters, making three extra points and waiting. The Hawks advanced to the Jaguars’ 14 and let about 30 seconds run off the clock before setting up Negrete’s game-deciding 31-yard kick with 16.1 seconds left. Canyon View called a time out to add to the freeze, but Negrete calmly booted the decisive field goal.

· The Hawks alternated Bennett and Juarez on every possession. Ellis said that has been the plan all season, though in most early games each QB would get two straight drives. Friday was Juarez’s night. The 175-pound QB was the gravity of the Hawks’ offense in the fourth quarter, counterbalancing Haskin’s highlights. Before Juarez threw a touchdown, he converted third and 1 at the Canyon View 30.Then Ellis went with a heavy dose of quarterback power runs, picking up 31 yards on six carries on the final two scoring drives.

· The Buckeye defense adjusted to Canyon View’s Air Raid attack in the second half. Devens only completed three passes for 39 yards in the third quarter, after six completions for 139 yards in the first. His only fourth quarter completion was in the 10-15 yard zone to set up laterals on the final play, while Buckeye was in a prevent defense to deny a deep ball. Defensive end Egypt Bandin had a crucial sack for the Hawks while trailing 36-28.

· With Furman commit Santino Varvel (2 catches, 20 yards) working his way back after not playing against Queen Creek, the Jaguars were big plays or bust all night. Lange scored on a punt return, but did not catch a pass after being the top deep threat last year. Slocum (7 carries, 56 yards) and Devens (7 carries, 55 yards) had the most success on the ground as a change up on expected pass plays and the lack of a reliable ground game was a problem.

· The Canyon View defense is solid if unspectacular and like 4A defenses across the state it struggled to deal wik Haskin. But little of Buckeye's 23 second half points can be pinned on the unit. One touchdown was a kick return, and the other two Hawks scoring drives started in Jaguars territory after let downs by the offense and special teams.

THEY SAID IT

Coach Ellis: "I express to the team every time that we can put up points so don't have your head down," Ellis said. "This is a great win for our team, playing a 5A school,"

"Usually we have our players play one side of the ball, but we decided we had to put our athletes on both sides of the field. Darius Haskin played offense and defense. He usually doesn't do that. With a team like Canyon View, you have to do that," Ellis said.

"Each quarterback brings something different to the game. We try to go with who we feel will win the ball game at the time and who's hot on the field," Ellis said. "Right now we're getting to the meat of our schedule and our section is tough. Ricardo was that quarterback tonight, so we had to spread the field, go in empty sets and let Ricardo do his thing. Pete Lopez at left tackle and Cassiah Kaluna at right guard are my two returning linemen and they're studs."

Canyon View coach Nick Gehrts: "They did a really good job of bringing pressure and we just couldn't protect the quarterback. So throwing the ball down the field is really hard to do," Gehrts said.

On going for it midway through the third quarter on fourth and goal from the 16 after a post-play personal foul moved the Jaguars back 15 yards: "On the fourth and 1, we were going to go for it. Then the personal foul we kept going back and forth on it. Looking at it now, we probably should have kicked it."

"We've got to be better as coaches in holding our guys more accountable and not letting them get away with things. Tonight falls on the coaches and we'll get better," Gehrts said.

Darius Haskin: "I told the guys at halftime let's go out and have some fun no matter what the score is. We came out hyped and I think that kick return set them off more," Haskin said.

"(On the end around) the whole game we were faking the Zoom, knowing eventually he'd bite on it. (Ricardo) did his thing, running all those back-to-back runs. I'm proud of him and proud of the team." Haskin said.

"This is the best game I've ever played in. Everybosy was together and this season everybody is much closer, like a family," Haskin said.

Ricardo Juarez: "I don't think it was necessarily one play that changed the tide," Juarez said. "Every single play that was happening was like in a movie. There was a part of me that believed there was no way we were going to lose this football game."

"I knew if I threw it to my best guy, he was going to make a play for me," Juarez said. "It's not about the Xs and Os its about the Jimmies and Joes."