3A State Championship

Saturday, Nov. 26: Chaparral High School

No. 3 American Leadership 31, No. 5 Sabino 14

 

It was “quiet confidence” that helped get the Patriots of the American Leadership Academy a 3A Conference state football championship in only their third year of AIA competition. Quiet confidence and a lot of trust.

For senior quarterback Dallin Edwards, it was blind trust in a game plan drawn up by the coaching staff that led No. 3 ALA (13-1) to a masterful 31-14 win over No. 5 Sabino (12-2) Saturday night at Chaparral High School. Coaching staff?  The head coach just happened to be his father and how can a son not trust his father?

“Playing for my dad has been awesome and also very rough,” Edwards said honestly about playing for his dad, Rich Edwards. “But there is no one I’d rather play for. I feel blessed and grateful for the opportunity to play for my father.”

The Sabercats beat ALA 16-13 in week two but that was so long ago that most forgot Edwards was not under center in that game. Edwards broke his collar bone in a 14-10 win over Pusch Ridge the week before and he sat out for six games including the loss at Sabino.

His replacement, junior Matt Nevill, played well and led the team to a 5-1 record in Edwards’s absence, throwing for over 1,000 yards with 12 TDs but Edwards brings his legs to the equation.  Edwards rushed for almost 500 yards in limited action and threw for 1,400 more, making him a threat the Sabercats did not have to face the first time.

Edwards may have been missing the first time around but the Patriot defense remained. It was a smothering defense the first time the two teams met and it was even more impressive Saturday night. The Sabercats had negative 18 yards rushing in the first half and only 57 yards passing. Nothing was working and that was on full display early on.

The Sabercats forced ALA to punt to start off the game but the punt pinned them back on their own 1 yard line. That was followed by a fumble and Edwards connected on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Haiden Stowers to make it 7-0 with 7:34 to go in the first. 

A penalty and back-to-back sacks forced Sabino to punt and Edwards drove his team 70 yards for another score. He hit Bujon Boyd from 27 yards out to make it 14-0 with 1:11 left.

Both teams played tough defense from there and that’s how the half ended. The Sabercats came alive on the first drive of the third quarter but a holding penalty stalled that drive. Edwards made the Sabercats pay with a 42-yard strike to Kade Lunt to help set up a 1-yard plunge Edwards took himself to make it 21-0.

Disaster struck again with the Sabercats fumbling away the kickoff and ALA was back in business. The Sabercat defense held and the Patriots settled for a 27-yard field goal by Talen Rider to make it 24-0 with 5:21 left in the third.

Junior QB Alex Bell struggled to find his rhythm but he led the Sabercats 75 yards to make it 24-6 thanks to a 6-yard pass to Damen Gibson (2-point conversion failed).

Edwards was far from over and he drove the Patriots 88 yards to go back up 31-6 with 5.3 seconds left in the third. Tarrik Workman started the drive off with a 39-yard dash and then Edwards took off for 16 more. He hit Lunt from 27 yards out a couple of plays later for the score.

Drew Dixon saw limited action heading into the fourth quarter but he starting taking snaps with this team down 31-6. Dixon ran in from eight yards out to cut the lead down to 31-14 with 8:14 left in the game.

Dixon committed to the University of Arizona and the crowd got a brief glimpse of just why in the fourth quarter but the Sabercats could get no closer thanks to a couple of interceptions by the Patriots.

Dixon wound up with 85 yards passing, 42 yards receiving and 54 yards rushing. Oh, and Dixon also punted and returned punts.

“I have never been on a team like this,” Dixon said. “We worked so hard and came so far and I have a chance to play at the next level thanks to the coaches who made it happen. It was a great year.”

It was a great year.

Sabino head coach Jay Campos moved into an administrative job at the school so he is expected to step away from the game for now. He’s coached the Sabercats for 14 years, compiling 133 wins along the way. He also has four second place finishes since 2005. Two of his 133 career victories came against his father, Eddie Campos.

Eddie Campos coached for 16 years in the Flagstaff area, leaving Sinagua in 2003 to help Take care of his late daughter Kristen who was battling leukemia. He then moved over to Flagstaff High where he coached from 2010 to 2013. He is now an assistant on the Sabino sidelines.

“Nothing that happened today takes away from what we accomplished this year,” Jay Campos said. “The guys kept plugging away and we knew we had to protect the ball to win this game. I’ve coached a lot of great players and met some great parents.”

When asked about a Sabino without him on the sidelines Campos said, “We are not going to miss a beat.”

Across the field another father was standing by his son.

Rich Edwards told his son to take what Sabino gave him. Nothing more, nothing less.

“That was a great team we just played,” Edwards said. “We asked our players to trust what we told them on offense and defense but the thing I’ll always remember about this team is their quiet confidence,” he added.

“When I played, we yelled and got excited but not these guys. They have had this quiet confidence all year long. They have confidence in each other and in their coaches.”

Edwards finished with 226 yards passing with Boyd collecting 76 of those and Lunt catching 70. Workman rushed for 41 yards.  Bell threw for 98 yards for Sabino.