Janet Sauter
ASU Student Journalist

Marcos De Niza upsets Mesquite in overtime

October 20, 2018 by Janet Sauter, Arizona State University


Yakeen Baylis runs for a two-yard touchdown against Mesquite. (Photo: Janet Sauter/AZPreps365)

The Marcos de Niza Padres defeated the Mesquite Wildcats, 35-34, on Friday in an overtime thriller. It is Marcos de Niza’s first region win of the season.

After a Mesquite touchdown down early in the first quarter, Torren Union blocked Mesquite’s extra point conversion. Later in the first, Marcos De Niza’s Martell Thompson evened up the score with a 100-yard interception return.

“It was a great win. We came out and fought hard,” Thompson said. “Homecoming had us pretty hyped so we wanted to show the crowd what we can do.”

The two teams continued to swap blows with each other with the score tied at 27 when the fourth quarter ended.

In overtime, Mesquite scored on the first play. After a five-yard scoring pass from Bobby Perez on fourth down, Marcos de Niza lined up to kick their extra point. Mesquite had a costly offsides penalty which led to Yakeen Baylis converting a two-point conversion and the Padres winning the game.

“They [Mesquite] jumped and it gave us an opportunity. We’re taking it,” Padres head coach Eric Lauer said. “We said if we get a chance we’re not going to keep this thing going. We’re going to try to win the game. As coaches, we wanted our players to know we’re not going to hold back.”

The Padres were able to keep up with the Wildcats on offense with help from Baylis and Torren Union. Baylis finished the night with two touchdowns and the game winning two-point conversion.  Union had one receiving touchdown. Thompson had a huge overall game on defense and special teams for Marcos de Niza, finishing with seven tackles and one blocked field goal to go along with his a 100-yard touchdown.

“They [Marcos de Niza] did a great job. Hats off to them,” Wildcats head coach Chad Degrenier said. “They made some plays and so did we. They just made one more than us.”

Mesquite’s Ty Thompson finished the night with 281 yards passing, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Chandler Coleman had a big night for the Wildcats with 92 yards rushing, two touchdowns and 42 yards receiving.

“We had our opportunities. We had some stops, penalties and turnovers,” Degrenier said. “We just have to fight through it and get better.”

Defense and special teams for the Padres were strong throughout the night despite giving up 34 points. They finished with two interceptions, one blocked extra point, one blocked field goal and were able to stop the Wildcats on fourth down twice.

Despite the win, there are things Lauer will stress the need to improve on. The Padres finished the game with 14 penalties -- three of them coming in the first five minutes.

“When you put so many hours into something you do expect something back,” Lauer said. “It just felt good to play four quarters then play some more and do what we did in overtime.”

The Padres move to 2-7 on the season and 1-3 in region play. Mesquite falls to 5-4 overall and 3-1 in region play.

Marcos de Niza will take on Arcadia (6-3 overall, 1-3 region) at home next Friday at 7 p.m.

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