Green Valley gets stop on final play to fend off Desert Pines — PHOTOS
Green Valley’s Class 5A Southern Region football quarterfinal against Desert Pines fit the definition of a tale of two halves.
The Gators led 16-7 at halftime and were ahead by as many as 16 points in the third quarter before Desert Pines mounted a comeback. It came down to a final play, but Green Valley never let go of its lead to advance in the playoffs.
Green Valley deflected a pass on a Desert Pines’ Hail Mary attempt in the endzone, and the fifth-seeded Gators held on for a 23-21 road win at No. 4 Desert Pines on Friday night.
“For this group to get as far as this group’s gotten this year with all the guys we’re missing, I can’t tell you how proud I am of them,” Green Valley coach Bill Powell said. “Nobody gave us a chance tonight. (Desert Pines has) been on a roll. … We used that as motivation. We’ll take it and move on.”
Green Valley (6-4) will play No. 8 Centennial — which upset No. 1 Shadow Ridge 43-27 in another quarterfinal — at 6 p.m. Friday at Green Valley in a 5A Southern Region semifinal.
“We’re excited, we just want to keep playing football,” said Green Valley quarterback Michael Lewis, who threw for 154 yards and two touchdowns. “It’s good, especially since we’re always underdogs, it’s always good to prove people wrong and that we’re a team to worry about.”
Green Valley was in control through three quarters, and Sonny Uranich’s 5-yard touchdown run put the Gators ahead 23-7 with 1:27 left in the third quarter.
But there was still plenty of time for Desert Pines (4-6) to rally. The Jaguars got within one score on a Ja’Mire Ross 1-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal, and quarterback Jerome Sequeira’s 2-point pass to Marcus Williams cut the deficit to 23-15 with 9:47 left in the game.
Desert Pines, on its next drive, got stopped on fourth-and-1 near midfield, but got the ball right back when Green Valley punter Raedon Michaels had trouble with a high snap and was tackled inside Gators’ territory.
The Jaguars scored five plays later on another run from Ross, this time from 4 yards out, but they missed on the 2-point try and Green Valley still led 23-21 with 3:46 left.
Green Valley used Uranich to help control the clock, and was about to extend its lead when Michaels made a 32-yard field goal. But after a Desert Pines offside penalty moved the ball closer, Powell decided to go for it on fourth down when Lewis got intercepted, and Desert Pines got a final chance with 55 seconds left.
Sequeira got the Jaguars to Green Valley’s 40 and his final pass was deep into the back of the end zone, where Green Valley’s Bo Hackenbruck got a hand on it to break it up.
“Taking points off the board is always tricky to do, but we really felt like they were going to have to score a touchdown anyway,” Powell said. “Credit to (Desert Pines), they’re very athletic, young and talented, but super proud of my kids and I’m glad we’re getting to advance.”
Uranich finished with 126 rushing yards on 24 carries. Lewis completed 9 of 16 passes with two touchdowns in the first half and had two interceptions.
Green Valley defeated Desert Pines 19-18 in the regular season on Oct. 3.
Lewis made a pair of key fourth-down throws in the first half that led to scores, including a miraculous throw on the game’s first drive.
On fourth-and-goal at the Desert Pines 1, he took the snap, tried to scramble and as he was wrapped up by several Desert Pines defenders, he flipped a throw to Evan Williams in the end zone to cap off an over five-minute drive to put the Gators up 6-0 after a missed extra point.
“I got swung around, another dude came out of nowhere, trying to tackle me,” Lewis said. “I looked up, I saw (Evan Williams) wide open and I just said, ‘Screw it, let me throw it,’ and (Williams) got it.”
Lewis later hit Sam Byington on a 46-yard pass down the sideline on fourth-and-7, giving the Gators a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter.
“Just don’t buy into it,” Lewis said of the messages as Desert Pines tried to make a comeback. “Just keep composure, keep playing, don’t worry about it. Just keep playing your game.”
Sequeira threw for 137 yards, and Williams rushed for 62 yards and had 45 receiving yards for Desert Pines. Mario Velasco-Fletcher had an 81-yard kickoff return right before halftime for the Jaguars.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
