All grown up: Dampier dazzles in Saguaro's upset of nation's 11th ranked team

December 5, 2021 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365


Saguaro's Devon Dampier (left) was all smiles after his performance Saturday night. Photo by Jose Garcia/azpreps365.com.

Sag-U is headed to ASU.

Devon Dampier might drive the team there.

He certainly was at the wheel in one of his program’s biggest postseason victories.

The junior quarterback was sensational Saturday while weaving out of trouble in Saguaro’s 31-24 upset of Hamilton to help his team reach its next destination: Arizona State University.

“Gotta love Sag-U, man” said Dampier, who rushed for 204 yards on 16 carries. “One more week.”

The victory sent Saguaro to next Saturday’s Open Division final for the second time in three years.

It’ll play Chandler, the team it lost to two years ago in the first Open that was staged. The odds were against Saguaro advancing during its semifinal at undefeated Hamilton, ranked 11th nationally by maxpreps.

Starting in just his second game for Saguaro, Dampier and his team faced arguably the best front-7 and quarterback in the state. But Dampier used his legs to keep drives alive, none more important than his team’s final one.

After No. 93 Matthew Krneta kicked a 42-yard field goal for Hamilton’s only points of the second half, Saguaro took over at its 34-yard line with 7:19 left, leading 31-24.

On that long drive, Dampier converted twice on 3rd-and-9, first with a pass to Joseph Clark IV and then with a 29-yard run up the middle. The drive eventually ended with a blocked field goal, but only 29 seconds remained when Hamilton took over at its own 2-yard line.

Hamilton pulled off a miracle when it rallied late to upset nationally ranked Nevada Bishop Gorman in the regular season, but quarterback Nicco Marchiol and Hamilton’s magic ran out Saturday. Saguaro (11-1) snuffed out a trick play at the end and tackled Marchiol to finish the game.

“I felt like we were the forgotten team this year,” Saguaro coach Jason Mohns said. “It was all about Chandler-Hamilton. And it was like, ‘Yeah, Saguaro is OK. They belong here, but they are just a speed bump for Hamilton.’ And we didn’t want to settle for that. We wanted to make a statement that we believe that we are one of the premier programs in the state regardless of our enrollment.”

Saguaro’s defense also made a statement.

It allowed Marchiol’s primary receiving threat, Christian Anaya, to break free for a scoring play just once, when he caught a 14-yard touchdown in the game’s opening drive. Javen Jacobs immediately answered with Saguaro’s longest play of the game, a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Hamilton’s longest play of the game came when Tré Spivey was left wide open for a 68-yard touchdown catch to tie it, 21-21, right before halftime. As for Hamilton’s run game, Saguaro's Tristan Monday and his defensive line kept it in check throughout the night.

“It’s sounds so cliché,” Saguaro defensive coordinator Jim Camarillo said, "but against a really good, balanced team like that you really have to be disciplined. I’m so proud of our guys tonight.”

Dampier’s night got off to a bad start, as his first pass was intercepted and was then converted into points to stake Hamilton to a 14-7 lead. But Dampier redeemed himself on the following drive to help set the tone for the rest of the game.

He capped a 70-yard drive with an 18-yard scoring scamper. The junior wound up with three rushing touchdowns.

Dampier also flashed a strong right arm. He threw a dart to Jacobs on a shallow cross that resulted in a 42-yard gain to set up a touchdown during the opening drive of the second half. 

“The team had my back after throwing an interception,” Dampier said. “The O-line played great. You see what the defense did obviously. They shut them down in the second half.”