Dane Palmer is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Agua Fria High School for AZPreps365

A thrilling battle between the Agua Fria Owls and Tolleson Wolverines under the Thursday night lights saw Agua Fria come out on top, 24-21 in a cross-conference contest.

The Owls came into this game with a certain attitude and intensity that could only be described by coach Rodney Young.

“The mentality that I gave was redemption," he said. "I was a coach at Tolleson last season... It's a great group of coaches. I have nothing but the utmost respect for them but once I came back to Agua Fria I understood what the mission was and it was to bring the ‘Rock’ back.”

Agua Fira, which played in 5A, moved to 4-1, while Tolleson, which plays in 6A, dropped to 1-4.

The rivalry game started out slowly with both teams going 3 and out on their first drives. After a good Tolleson punt, the Owls took over on their own 11-yard line, however, Agua Fria marched downfield and ended the drive through the air on a 45-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Matthews. 

Soon after though the game would be halted by a major injury to a Tolleson player resulting in an ambulance being called to the field to take the player to the hospital. The crowds on both sides fell silent and hoped for the best. In a great display, both teams came together and prayed with the help of coach Young. 

“Coach H (Agua Fria coach Ricky Higuera) and (Tollenson oach Rich) Wellbrock asked if I would pray for that young man. I’ve been a minister for over 20 years so it was easy and these guys know, but we understand that football is a game and that was life. That's somebody's son,” said Young

After this, both teams would return to their sidelines and resume play. Neither team scored throughout the rest of the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Agua Fria would hang three more on the board by way of a 30-yard field goal.

Late in the same quarter, the Owls would fail to convert on fourth down leaving Tolleson with the ball inside its own 10-yard line. Out of nowhere Asad Ali ripped through the line of scrimmage and ran 91-yards off of an inside handoff to close within 10-7.

Struggles would strike again for Agua Fria as a bad snap on a punt with just under a minute left in the half gave the Wolverines positive field position and they capitalized on with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Ali again.

In a wild sequence of events, the Owls would throw an interception but the defender was stripped of the ball leading to an Agua Fria first down. However, it resulted in nothing and the half would end.

Tolleson would take the lead, 14-10, into halftime after trailing all but one minute of the first half

A quiet third quarter was brought to life when the Owls snagged an interception and quarterback Aldo Ohlmaier drove the team down the field and threw a 25-yard touchdown as time expired, his second TD of the night, to put the Owls on top, 17-14, going into the fourth quarter. 

“The kid is special, I’m gonna say it a million times, and for as long as he's gonna be at school with us," Higuera said. "He never gets too happy, never gets too down. His poise, he has so much drive and determination I’m happy to be able to say he leads us on offense and I look for him as a future leader beyond the football field.”

The Wolverines wasted no time firing their own 60-yard pass down field putting them deep in Agua Fria territory. But the Owls defense would snuff out the drive with an interception in the end zone by Jonathan Daniels, Jr.

Against its own goal line after the interception Agua Fria was forced to punt from its own end zone leading to Tolleson having good field position. The Wolverines would eventually make it down and score on a 1-yard quarterback sneak to take the lead again, 21-17.

A rough kick return led to Agua Fria being pinned back inside its own 10-yard line once again. The Owls calmly marched their way down the field, boosted by a catch down the sideline by Matthews and then an even more spectacular grab to put Agua Fria in scoring position. The Owls would go on to do just that with Daniels Jr. sprinting in for a touchdown from 5-yards out for the 24-21 lead.

The Owls left just over four minutes remaining for the Tolleson offense to work with. The Wolverines pushed their way to the 50-yard line but stalled out and on a pivotal fourth-and-long pass, the Agua Fria defense came up clutch and forced an incompletion. 

“Defensively once again, the guys execute when needed, they perform when we need them the most,” said Higuera.

The Owls would then take a knee on the final plays of the game, watch the clock tick down to zero in their 24-21 win, and reclaim the ‘River Rock’ for themselves.

Agua Fria will take on Ironwood next Friday in their homecoming game while Tolleson will play Mesa next Friday.

Higuera knows how much this win means to not just the team but the community as well.

“The history between that rock and the two communities," he said. "It started in the playgrounds, it started in Pop Warner and now bringing it to high school means a lot, not just to me but this communit. It's amazing to watch how much support these kids have. I love seeing both sides show up and put their best foot forward, for every kid not just our kids… it's important to acknowledge we may be competing at a high level but we still wish you guys nothing but the best.”