While a Peoria-Kellis football rivalry could have started a year before Liberty-Sunrise Mountain. Instead, the Cougars and Panthers played for only the fourth time Friday, while the Lions and Mustangs have played 11 times and have grown one of Arizona’s top rivalry games. A wild, unpredictable night of football at Peoria High – with the occasional train rumbling by – may have marked the birth of a new showcase game.

Sept. 16: (4A) Peoria 21, (5A) Kellis 17

The game with Cactus is likely to remain the one Peoria points to each year, because of the history and the unusually large number of alumni that follow both teams well after they graduate. But for current Panther players, a game with Kellis probably is more personal. The schools are 4 miles apart and almost all of the kids know each other from youth football and school, whether they were youth rival or teammates. Even though this group of players never played against each other, Peoria held a 3-0 record in the series going in. Though he has been on the Peoria staff since 2014, this was Jason Golden’s third game as Panthers head coach. And Golden was – for all intents and purposes – Kellis’ founding head coach and the only person on the field with a prominent role in all three previous meetings.

It was Peoria’s second home game of the week, after lightning delayed the Sept. 9 home game against ALA-West Foothills to Sept. 12. The Panthers scored the final 13 points of that game and at first it appeared the home team and late arriving home crowd were a bit worn out for the second game in four days. The visiting stands were nowhere near full of Kellis fans. But a weird, wonderful night of high school football drew the crowd in. Both fan bases and teams were loud and exuberant by the fourth quarter, and erupted at the two go-ahead touchdowns in the final three minutes. The Peoria crowd woke up the echoes of its legendary history with its fourth quarter play and postgame celebration with the band and cheerleaders. By the end, it was clearly not “just another game."

Peoria junior Sebastian Carrillo already was envisioned and used as a moveable chess piece on offense. Ideally, though, the running back/slot was only going to take snaps at quarterback two or three times a game and throw as a surprise to defenses cheating up against the run. He got the attack untracked by going off tackle for a 40-yard touchdown in the second quarter to tie the game at 7. He added a six-yard touchdown run just before the half to put the home team up 14-7. Carrillo had to move over to quarterback late in the third quarter, protecting a 14-10 lead. After a show stopping Kellis touchdown, Peoria got the ball back with just under 2:30 left trailing 17-14. Now Carrillo had to throw. After taking a sack, he hit Saieed Hassan for 15 yards and a crucial first down. Then Carrillo threw a dart to wide open senior Elijah Ward for 37 yards down to the Cougars’ 3. From there, he would have a hand in the winning touchdown. Two plays after the pass Carrillo ran and lunged for the goal line. A Cougar knocked the ball loose but junior Quintin Sullivan fell on it in the end zone. Carrillo accounted for 199 of the Panthers’ 315 yards in total offense (98 rushing, 73 passing and 28 receiving) – plus 36 kickoff return yards.

“In practice we run two-minute drill a lot but usually Josh is in there and I’m at slot. We did no huddle and we just ran the same play over. The first play I hit Saieed and right when we did that, we’re moving down the field. Then I saw Elijah wide open and just put some touch on it. I didn’t think we were going to pound it out up the middle,” Carrillo said.

While it did not turn out to be the winning touchdown, Kellis’ perfectly executed trick play in a desperation situation was the game’s highlight. The Cougars faced fourth down and 14 at their own 16 yard line with less than three minutes left. Sophomore quarterback Ronald Coty III dropped back and hit sophomore receiver Triston Bacon beyond the sticks but facing the line of scrimmage. Instead of turning to run, Bacon immediately pitched back to senior running back Derek Carter who dashed untouched down the visiting sideline to complete the stunning 84-yard touchdown and gave Kellis a 17-14 lead with 2:30 remaining.

Golden: “We preached Monday that we’re not going to make excuses. We modified practice and didn’t go with any shoulder pads Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday,” Golden said. “It’s the toughness we have with our kids. Our defense stepped up at times against a good team. Our kids are growing each play. We’ll throw a freshman in and start four sophomores on defense. For us it’s just about getting back to mental toughness.”

“Our kids and their kids know each other. They go to school together and play NYS together against each other or even on the same team,” Golden said. “This isn’t about me. I’ve been here nine years and at Kellis 10, so I’m removed from that. It was about keeping our kids from getting too hyped. I love it. On a homecoming we can see their fireworks go off and they can see ours. Ben does a great job and I’ve got a lot respect for him and his staff. And he does it the right way.”

Carrillo: “I knew from the start of the season that they were going to have me be a Swiss Army knife. I knew I was going to play multiple positions and I’ve been playing quarterback since I was little. I had to know the offense and I know all the receiving plays and running plays,” Carrillo said.

Kellis coach Ben Kullos: “I think the biggest thing we tried doing after that hook and ladder was settling everyone down. Saying, ‘Hey man, we can’t get too caught up in that last play because it has nothing to do with our ability to stop them on defense.’ I thought the kids were focused for that last (Peoria) drive. I thought there were a lot of mistakes we’ve got to grow from. Instead of finding a way to win, we found a way to lose. We’ve got a group of talented kids that are getting better every day. It’s tough to see the emotions after the game because you want it so bad for them.”

“They were pretty fired up for this game because they’re Peoria and have the tradition and we’re Kellis and we don’t. We’re the afterthought of the district. If you’re ranking Peoria Unified School District programs, you’re probably putting us at the bottom. We’re trying to chip away at it. These kids are doing everything right, and can play with anybody on our schedule.” Kullos said.

Other than the extreme momentum swings of the final minutes, the story of this night was unplanned quarterback switches. Five players total ended up taking 10 or more snaps. Senior back Darrien Campbell started for Kellis, giving the offense more of a Wildcat look, before two dead ball penalties led to his ejection. Coty is the regular starter but Kullos said he was still banged up from the opener Willow Canyon and the original plan was to hold him out. A mild concussion knocked out Peoria starter Joshua Holiday in the second quarter. Freshman phenom Dominic Kramer replaced him and was impressive, completing four of five passes. But he was in for three quarters in the freshman game earlier this week and could only play two before hitting the weekly five-quarter limit. That’s why Carrillo moved over for his late-game heroics.

· If Peoria makes the 4A playoffs this season, the Panthers will point back to this week. Down 12 to ALA-West Foothills entering the fourth quarter and by three to Kellis with 2:30 left. Beaten up, undersized and exhausted, the Panthers somehow found ways to win both and end their busy week with a 2-1 record. Peoria will not be favored in many of its 7 remaining games. But the team has reason to believe it will compete in all of those games and scrap for some wins. And, man, will the Panthers enjoy their bye next week before traveling to Sierra Linda Sept. 29.

· Before the late heroics, Gabe Rodriguez made the play of the night. The junior defensive end knifed in and sacked Coty on fourth and goal from the Peoria 4. Rodriguez led the Panthers with 13 tackles, six tackles for loss and three sacks.

· Kullos said this was the first of four “neighborhood” games on the Cougars’ schedule. Chances are, Peoria also was the toughest of neighborhood opponents. The other three – Ironwood, Independence and Copper Canyon – have a combined 1-8 record so far. Also all three of these winnable games will be at Kellis. Ironwood visits Sept. 23, Independence comes in Oct. 7 and Copper Canyon heads north for the season finale Nov. 11.

· Campbell’s ejection completely changed the tenor of the game. It came for taunting in celebration of a 54-yard touchdown run to put Kellis up 7-0. They’re 0-2 but the Cougars really could have something going forward, both in that Campbell-Carter Wildcat look and when Campbell lines up as the lone back next to Coty.

Support our sponsor:

AALL Insurance