Chandler cornerback Jai Jones figured it would take a critical defensive play to beat Centennial.

With both offenses kept out of the end zone in the second half, Friday night’s outcome would be determined by Jones’ pass breakup on fourth-and-goal with just over a minute remaining in a 6A clash of top-five teams in Chandler.

Chandler (6-1, #2 in 6A) was holding on to a precarious six-point lead and stopped the Coyotes four times from the 4-yard line.  Centennial (6-1, #5 in 6A) scored a late safety and got the ball back with just 15 seconds remaining.  The 20-16 victory wasn’t sealed until Cau’Re Smith sacked the Coyotes’ quarterback on the final play of the game.

Chandler Head Coach Ty Wisdom wasn’t surprised that it came right down to the final seconds.

“I knew it was going to be a close game,” Wisdom said.  “They’ve got a good football team.  I knew it was going to be a nail biter.  Proud of the resiliency of our guys.”

The Wolves were held below their 35-point scoring average they owned coming in, but became the first team to put up 20 points against Centennial (and also, the first to defeat the Coyotes) this season.

Chandler defensive lineman Jude Jones in pursuit of a ball carrier in the Wolves’ Homecoming game.

5 players that stood out

Chandler DE Jude Jones

The senior defensive lineman added to his sack total with his sixth of the season.  He was also part of a pass rush that kept Centennial off the scoreboard in the Coyotes’ final six possessions.  The 6-3, 245-pound defensive end is in his third year on varsity and having his best season yet.  Jones holds down a 4.20 GPA and is committed to Penn from the Ivy League.  He is also one of the captains of the Wolves.  Wisdom said the defense has a “mob mentality” with their pursuit and aggressiveness.  Jones personifies that.

Chandler TE Gage Scheurn

The senior tight end was eligible for the first time this season and made his presence known.  A transfer from Highland, Scheurn had to sit the first five games this season.  The sixth was a forfeited victory over Cactus Canyon two weeks ago.  Scheurn was the top target for quarterback Will Mencl as he pulled in six passes for 136 yards.  A Weber State commit, Scheurn was able to get open and used his size (6-5, 220) to gain extra yardage after the catch.  Scheurn is a track sprinter, who topped out at 11.15 in the 100-meters last spring.

Chandler TE Gage Scheurn

Chandler CB/WR Jai Jones

It was man-on-man in the critical fourth-down play for Centennial.  Their stud WR Torrin Hill against Chandler’s Jai Jones.  Jones stayed right on Hill and the final pass went incomplete.  Jones, who is committed to Wisconsin, is playing more defense than he did last year.  He is equally skilled at corner as he is as a wide receiver.  In this game, it was more his defensive play that stood out as he caught just one pass.  That didn’t frustrate him from doing his best on the other side of the ball.  From the point where the Coyotes scored their second touchdown (early in the second quarter), they had two drives end in interceptions, one with a long field goal miss, a pair of punts, and the final series ending on downs.  The secondary had a lot to do with that.  Of the last 18 passes that the two Coyote QBs threw, just six were caught.

Chandler ATH Jai Jones

Centennial LB Nathaniel Olmos

A hard hitter, Olmos has the speed to catch up to ball carriers, and the football IQ to sense where the ball is going.  He met up with a running back in the backfield for a tackle for loss.  Later, Olmos recovered a fumble to get the offense the ball back.  The 5-10, 180-pound senior lines up either at the nickel or as a free safety.  This season, Olmos has a pair of interceptions along with two forced fumbles.

Centennial LB Nathaniel Olmos

Centennial RB Jaylee Abraham

After making his debut last week for the Coyotes (after sitting five from transferring), Abraham was the primary back for Centennial in this one.  While he had to work for his 36 yards (14 carries), it was as a receiver where the junior really flourished.  Abraham caught six passes for 94 yards.  It’s the second week in a row, that Abraham was more productive as a receiver than a runner.  During his tremendous sophomore season (1,716 rushing yards) at Desert View, Abraham had more receiving yards than rushing yards just twice.  In two games with the Coyotes, he’s done it twice.

Centennial RB Jaylee Abraham

5 (non-scoring) plays that made a difference

  • Tied at 7 late in the first quarter, Chandler took over at the Centennial 6-yard line following a blocked punt.  One play later, Elijah Carothers intercepted a pass for the Coyotes to keep the game deadlocked.  It was the second game in a row that the senior defensive back had a pick.
  • Leading 14-7 in the second quarter, Centennial was looking to go up by two scores and had the ball at the Chandler 23-yard line.  An interception by senior safety Marshawn Coleman ended the drive.  The Wolves took over at the 2-yard line and drove the field before halftime to tie it.  The Coyotes never led again.
  • Leading 17-14 early in the fourth quarter, Chandler lined up to go for it on fourth-and-four on the Centennial 26-yard line.  After using a timeout, Chandler called a play and Will Mencl completed a 10-yard pass to Gage Scheurn for the first down.  The Wolves would score a field goal later in the drive.
  • Trailing 20-14 with just over a minute remaining, Centennial faced a third-and-goal from the 4-yard line.  A pass from Titus Hill to Jason Lee appeared to be completed in the end zone, but it was punched away by junior Brigid Laudermilk for an incompletion.
  • On the very next play (fourth-and-goal), Centennial tried to pass again and an attempt from Titus to his brother, Torrin Hill, was knocked away ending the drive.
Chandler safety Marshawn Coleman has the inside position and intercepts a pass near the end zone.

5 key stats

  • Neither running game was able to get completely untracked.  Both sides were under 100 yards and there were only five carries in the game that went for 10 or more yards.
  • Jaylee Abraham had 130 of the Coyotes’ 273 yards of total offense.
  • Chandler started three drives on Centennial’s half of the field and only came away with 3 points from those.
  • The 47-yard field goal from Chandler’s Ryan Zima in the third quarter was his season long.
  • There weren’t a lot of penalties called in the game with just 11 total assessed for 105 yards.

Video highlight

Centennial took over at its own 48-yard line with 5:10 remaining in the game.  The Coyotes brought Jonah Garcillano into the game at quarterback and he had a pair of first down runs to spark the offense.  He also completed a couple passes to get Centennial into the red zone.  Titus Hill returned to the game for the last set of plays.  On third-and-goal from the 4-yard line, a pass was attempted to Jason Lee and it was knocked away by Chandler’s Brivid Laudermilk.

Courtesy of Richard Obert from AZCentral, here is the full video of the play.

But should it have been an incomplete pass?  I was much further away from the play than Obert or any of the referees, but I had a different angle of it.  From this still shot, it appears Lee has control of the ball and one foot on the ground in the end zone (which is all you need for high school).  That is normally enough for a touchdown call.  Never mind that the defender that knocked it away isn’t there yet.

Now, there’s no guarantee Centennial wins the game if it’s called a touchdown.  They would have needed to kick the point for a 21-20 lead and then Oregon-commit Will Mencl would’ve had 1:10 to drive the Wolves down the field to get in range for a winning kick.  And kicker Ryan Zima was 2-for-2 including a 47-yarder that had plenty of leg.  But, we’ll never know.

This was not ruled as a touchdown for Centennial.

Wolves 20, Coyotes 16

Centennial. . . . 7  7  0  2 – 16
Chandler . . . . . 7  7  3  3 – 20

First Quarter

Cent: Noah Urquiza 31 yard pass from Titus Hill (Jeremiah Harvey kick), 7:07, 0-7
Chan: David Douglas 2 yard run (Ryan Zima kick), 4:45, 7-7

Second Quarter

Cent: Jaylee Abraham 1 yard run (Harvey kick), 9:54, 7-14
Chan: Will Mencl 6 yard run (Zima kick), 0:11, 14-14

Third Quarter

Chan: Zima 47 yard FG, 3:50, 17-14

Fourth Quarter

Chan: Zima 31 yard FG, 8:06, 20-14
Cent: Safety.  Quarterback tackled in end zone., 0:15, 20-16

Chandler senior kicker Ryan Zima strikes the ball for a 47-yard field goal to give the Wolves the lead in the third quarter.

Team Statistics

First Downs – Cent: 18, Chan: 14.  Rushes-Yards – Cent: 26-88, Chan: 26-75.  Comp-Att-Int – Cent: 15-30-2, Chan: 12-21-1.  Passing Yards – Cent: 185, Chan: 179.  Total Yards – Cent: 273, Chan: 254.  Fumbles Lost – Cent: 0, Chan: 1.  Penalties-Yards – Cent: 5-40, Chan – 6-65.

Individual Leaders

Passing – Cent: Hill 13-25-2, 162 yards, Chan: Mencl 12-21-1, 179 yards.
Rushing – Cent: Abraham 14-36, Garcillano 3-28, Chan: Douglas 10-37.
Receiving – Cent: Abraham 6-94, Urquiza 1-31, Chan: Scheurn 6-136, Sprott 4-20.

5 people I talked to after the game

Chandler WR Gage Scheurn on how great of a win this was for the Wolves: “This is just a big statement win for us.  In the rankings, I hope this puts us up there.  We just competed crazy tonight.”

Centennial Head Coach Andrew Taylor: “It’s a tough one to take, but our team is resilient.  We’ll be back.  I think it does show that we can beat anyone in the state, but it also shows that at the critical moments, we’ve got to secure those plays to prove it.”

Chandler CB/WR Jai Jones on the fourth-down play: “I’ve got a lot of confidence and I’ll bet on myself every time.  In situations like that, when the ball’s coming, I’m most prepared.”

Chandler DE Jude Jones on the “mob mentality” of the defense: “That is something we came up with last week.  We’ve been screaming out ‘Mob’ every time.  I think we came together and fought hard.”

Chandler Head Coach Ty Wisdom on the abilities of Jai Jones: “He played a lot of the game on defense.  He’s a tremendous athlete.  He’s been recruited as a corner and as a receiver.  He’s so long that you’re not going to throw a fade ball on him.”

Next week

Centennial (6-1 overall, 1-0 Desert Valley Region) returns to region play with a road game in Glendale at Mountain Ridge (3-4, 0-2).  The Mountain Lions lost their third straight game on Friday to Boulder Creek, 41-12.  The Coyotes have won the last three in the series, including a 55-7 blowout last year.  It’s a chance for Centennial to get things working just right before the showdown with Liberty comes on Nov. 6.

Chandler (6-1 overall, 1-0 Fiesta Region) also will be back in region play with a road game in Surprise at Valley Vista (0-7, 0-2).  The Monsoon not only remain winless for the season after a 59-0 setback to Hamilton on Friday, but Valley Vista has not scored a point all year.  I’m sure the focus will be on the Wolves’ defense to continue that shutout streak.  Like Centennial, CHS has a big game with its rival the first week of November (Thursday, Nov. 5) when it travels to Hamilton.

The post Gridiron Five: Late goal-line stand gives Chandler key 6A win first appeared on Sports360AZ.



–