Down 14-12 at the half Friday night, the Black Hawks of Williams Field found another gear on the road and pulled away from Marana, 33-14. The victory pushed the Black Hawks to 4-1 on the year, practically erasing an opening week 41-29 setback at Norco, California.

Both squads talked of Friday night being filled with defining moments, good or bad, but it’s hard to gauge what the loss for Marana (4-1) and the win for Williams Field means as far as the postseason goes with region finishes no longer being part of the equation at the 5A level. The key, now, is to be one of the top 16 teams in the state after the final week and, for the last six years, seven wins appears to be the magic ticket to a playoff run, with a few exceptions.

It looked like it was going to be Williams Field early and often after the Tigers failed to move the ball to open up the game and Williams Field senior Zack Shepherd responded with a 58-yard throw to an undefended Noa Pola-Gates to give the Black Hawks a 6-0 lead with 9:25 left in the first. A missed 2-point conversion kept the score intact and it looked like the Tigers were ready to respond after a fake punt from David Bertelsen extended the Tiger drive but a rare interception put the Black Hawks back in business.

Prior to the game, Marana senior Trenton Bourguet had only thrown two interceptions in 98 passing attempts this year but the Black Hawk defense came into the game second in the state with eight interceptions. Logan Hall made that nine with an interception with 6:57 left in the first but the team fumbled the ball right back on the next play. A bad snap ended another drive for the Tigers and Kendrix Lurry ripped off a 61-yard dash down the sideline to put the Black Hawks up 12-0 a few moments later.

Lurry finished the night with 179 yards rushing on nine attempts. Only a junior, Lurry is sure to get some attention at the next level but he was more concerned about the game last night after the Tigers stormed back to take a 14-12 lead at the half.

“We went down at the half and looked at each other,” Lurry said. “Part of the Williams Field way is to find our offense and pound the ball down your throat. I knew we had this game when I looked over and our coach (Steve Campbell) had a smirk on his face in the third quarter.”

The second missed 2-point conversion seemingly kept the Tigers in the game and Bourguet started the second-quarter comeback with a 6-yard pass to T.J. Cephers to cut the lead down to 12-6. Coben Bourguet picked off Shepherd one minute later and the Tigers appeared to be ready to play and Bourguet put the Tigers up 14-12 on an 8-yard throw to Demetrio Grijalva to end the half.

 

@Trenton_B5 Bourguet to TJ Cephers from 6 out. @WFFootballTeam 12, @MaranaFB 7 10:51 in 2nd #AZPreps365 pic.twitter.com/OPEIzgC1iU

— Andy Morales (@AZPreps365Andy) September 15, 2018

 

 

“After that (interception) coaches said take what they give you and that’s what I did,” Bourguet said. “They did a real good job of containing me and that’s what I do best, scrambling and making plays with my feet. We know what we need to fix and you know I’m proud of these guys.”

Diego Miranda prevented another score from Shepherd with an interception at his own one-yard line with a few second left in the half but Lurry came out of the locker room and scored on a 36-yard run to put the Black Hawks up 19-14 and then Jaden Thompson made it 26-14 on a 22-yard run of his own with 10:33 left in the game.

With the game far from being over, Marana was still in good position for another comeback but a first-and-goal situation came up empty and Lurry finished the game off with another 61-yard run for the 33-14 final.

The Tigers have a bye week coming up and things will not get any easier with Buena (3-1) coming on Sept. 28. The Tigers were considered one of the best programs in the state but the program went 42 years without a region title, 33 years without a playoff win and nine years without a playoff appearance before the 2016 campaign came rolling in, literally.

Like something out of a movie, the Marana school district installed artificial turf at it's two high schools - Marana and Mountain View - in 2013 and players and fans started to come. The district rolled out fake grass, built a new home, and the fans came – by the thousands. But the success is more than a dream – it’s a reality.

The Tigers moved up a division and still won back-to-back region titles in 2016 and 2017 and the program also collected two playoff wins in the process. Working on their third region title in a row, it was Williams Field that put an end to the Tiger’s playoff run in 2016 with a 41-14 win in the quarterfinal round. That was also the year the Black Hawks took home their first state title under Campbell.

Remember that Norco team? Campbell led his alma mater to two state championships. The 6-foot-8 QB played for his father, Gary Campbell, at Norco before taking his talents to Arizona State and he has been the only coach Williams Field has had since it started competing at the varsity level in 2009. His 101th varsity victory came Friday night.

On Campbell’s staff at Williams Field is former University of Arizona great Kelvin Hunter. Hunter was major force in the Wildcats 2009 12-1 season that included a win over Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. But Campbell had plenty of fellow Sun Devils on the Marana field Friday night.

First-year Marana head coach Louie Ramirez was an assistant at ASU and he added former ASU standout Vince Amey to his staff. But Hunter also had some fellow Wildcats on the field with Kyle Quinn and David Catalano assisting at Marana.

Also walking the sidelines Friday night was Arizona OL coach Joe Gilbert and Western New Mexico offensive coordinator Paul Hansen. Gilbert was checking on several big men including Marana lineman Jordan Morgan (6-5, 265). Morgan committed to Arizona but USC came calling Friday afternoon. Hansen offered Trenton Bourguet and Cephers.

The Black Hawks will host Casteel (4-1) next week. Shepherd threw for 169 yards and Palo-Gates finished with 70 yards receiving. Lurry had his 179 yards rushing and Thompson added 127. For Marana, Bourguet threw for 193 yards, Grijalva had 62 yards receiving.