No. 5 Marcos de Niza was the underdog by seed entering Friday night's Division II semifinal matchup with top-seed and unbeaten Skyline. It's been a familiar role for Marcos de Niza head coach Sean Morin, who has been at the school for more than a decade, but is finishing up his second year as Padres' mentor.

"We always seem to be the underdog," Morin said.

Underdog or not, the Padres took full advantage of three Skyline miscues paving the way to a hard-fought 44-37 victory over Skyline at Mesa Mountain View High School. The win earned Marcos de Niza (12-2) a spot in the Nov. 28 final in Tucson. Marcos will take on No. 7 Saguaro, a 55-14 winner over Westview in the other D-II semi. Game time is 4 p.m. at  Arizona Stadium. It will be Marcos de Niza's second title-game appearance in school history. The other  took place in 2009, a loss to Chaparral in the 5A-II final. Skyline finished the best season in school history, the fourth from head coach Angelo Paffumi, with a 12-1 mark.

Marcos de Niza got two early touchdown passes from quarterback Nazareth Greer (271 yards passing for the game) -- one each to Marcus Naisant and Anthony Trujillo in building a 16-0 advantage in the game's first 10 minutes. Their final four touchdowns came on short runs by defensive lineman turned fullback Tyler Dennis, two by Shaun Richards and one by Avery Sanders. Richards second TD -- a 14-yard scamper -- broke a 30-30 tie with 7:20 left to play.

Marcos de Niza turned two fumble recoveries and an interception in to 20 points. The first turnover early in the opening period extended a 3-0 lead to 10-0. The second late in the second period flipped momentum and possibly prevented Skyline from taking its first lead and instead allowed the Padres togo on top 23-16 at intermission. The third, a pick on the opening series of the third period, resulted in a touchdown that restored its lead back to two touchdowns, 30-16, with 8:25 left in the quarter.

"The turnovers were the difference," Morin said. "They came back a couple times, but we had an answer. We've been able to have an answer the last three weeks. We were able to take advantage of what they gave us."

Skyline, which survived a first-round scare committing four turnovers in a 15-10 win over Sahuaro, never backed off despite its mistakes. The Coyotes answered the 16-0 deficit with scores four minutes apart in the second period and two-point conversions after each TD. Senior running back Amarii' Keyes tallied on a pair of 1-yard runs and tight end Jonathan Jackson caught two-point conversion passes from Keyes and quarterback TJ Duarte that tied the game.

Skyline was in the midst of a third successive scoring drive -- one that could have put it on top for the first time -- with just under two minutes left in the first half. The second fumble was recovered by Marcos de Niza and the Padres marched 60 yards in 1:20 to take the lead at the half. The key play was a 29-yard catch by Montre Willams from Greer.

"That fumble really hurt because I think we would have been up three or seven at the half," Paffumi said. "It might have been a different game if we kept that drive going. and were able to lead at halftime."

Duarte, who passed for 264 yards and accounted for three TDs overall, engineered scoring drives midway through the third period and early in the fourth that brought the Coytoes back from a second two-TD deficit and a 30-30 tie with 9:56 to go in the game. Duarte scored on a 1-yard run and tossed a 15-yard scoring pass to running back Kaleb Hardin.

Skyline's decision to try a fake punt on fourth-and-12 from its 18 with 4:50 left ended up turning the ball over on downs to Marcosd. Marcos extended its lead back to double digits -- 44-30  --  after Sanders TD run with 2:45 left. .

Skyline answered yet again in 90 seconds on a Duarte-to-Jacob Abramson scoring pass to pull within 44-37 with 1:18 to play. The ensuing onside kick was covered by Marcos de Niza. The Padres should have been able to run out the clock, but ran a sweep instead of a kneel-down that resulted in their only turnover with six seconds left. Skyline got off one desperation play deep in its own territory that  failed to produce.