Things were looking bleak for Tempe High coming out of halftime in Friday’s game against St. Mary’s. The Buffaloes fell behind 21-6 with 30 seconds to go in the second quarter after a muffed punt gave the Knights the ball in a prime position to score, and they got caught by a successful onside kick at the start of the third quarter.  Both of these plays appeared to be backbreakers for the Buffaloes, but they were able to survive them and mount a 15-point comeback to defeat St. Mary’s by a score of 22-21.

“They responded through adversity,” Tempe head coach Brian Walker said about his team’s effort in the win.  “That muffed punt didn’t get us down, and the onside kick didn’t get us down.  They dealt with adversity, and we were able to respond.”

St. Mary’s was able to get out to the early lead on the strength of their running game.  On the first possession of the game, the Knights marched down the field slowly but effectively, capping the eight-minute drive off with a three-yard rushing touchdown by running back Patrick Sullivan. 

Tempe responded quickly after this, scoring right before the end of the first quarter on a four-yard run by Isaiah Williams.

St. Mary’s went on another long drive early in the second quarter though, again led by their run game.  Sullivan ended this drive with a rushing touchdown as well, this one from 16 yards out to put the Knights ahead 14-6.  Then came the muffed punt by Tempe, which gave the ball to the Knights at the Buffaloes’ 29-yard line.  St. Mary’s took advantage of this in a big way, with running back Jack Flanagan taking it to the house on the first play of the new drive to bring their lead to 15.

“We came out flat in the first half,” Walker said.  “We got on them a little bit at halftime.”

It looked for a brief moment like it was going to be more of the same from Tempe in the second half after the onside kick caught them by surprise, but their defense was able to hold firm and forced St. Mary’s to punt.  The Buffaloes’ regained possession on their own four-yard line, but their field position proved to be irrelevant, as running back Pharoah Williams broke off a 96-yard run to make it a one-score game.

The Tempe defense was able to keep St. Mary’s off the scoreboard entirely in the second half after struggling with the Knights’ offense through much of the first half.

“They did a much better job stopping the run,” St. Mary’s head coach Tom Brittain said about Tempe’s defensive success in the second half.  “We also weren’t very sound passing.  We were a little bit frantic back in the pocket.  We’ve got to figure some things out.”

“Our defensive staff did a good job all week of preparing the boys,” Walker said.  “We could’ve done a little bit better job in the first half with our tackling, we missed a lot of tackles, but we responded in the second half.  We started making it a shorter field and doing a good job making tackles.”

This effort by Tempe’s defense gave their offense a lot more room to breathe, and they finally broke through with seven minutes to go in the game.  Running back B.J. Prince punched it in from eight yards out to bring the score to 21-20, and a successful two-point conversion right after gave Tempe the lead for good.

“It just shows what kind of team we are and what we can do when we have all the guys executing on every level,” Prince said about the comeback win.  “Defense did a phenomenal job, special teams did a great job coming back from last week, and the offense just persevered.  We came together and we played hard, and that’s what happened.”

“I was really proud of the way we battled,” Brittain said.  “We’re a young team, and we’re still learning to win.  This one really hurts, but I think it’s a step in the process of us building a program that St. Mary’s can be proud of.”

With the win, Tempe improved their record to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in league.  They will look to carry the momentum from this win into their matchup next Friday at Moon Valley.

“I think, as a team, we’re the best in 4A, and we can continue to play like that every Friday night with guys executing just like that,” Prince said.

As for St. Mary’s, they fell to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in league after the tough loss.  They will try to rebound when they come home next Friday for their contest against Shadow Mountain.

“I think that we’re continuing to learn that we’re a good team, but we have some work to do,” Brittain said.  “If we can learn to eliminate mistakes and capitalize on opportunities, we’re going to be in good shape, but that’s a work in progress.”