Sam Ganczaruk

For West Valley Preps

Sunrise Mountain hoped its fast-paced offense wouldn’t allow the powerful ground attack that Tucson Salpointe Catholic possessed to be a factor in Friday's 4A semifinal.

The plan seemed to be going as designed when the Mustangs jumped out to quick 14-0 lead in less than 5 minutes, but the Lancers never panicked and eventually overwhelmed Sunrise Mountain, 49-27, in the game at Ironwood High.

“We tried to keep the pedal down,” Sunrise Mountain coach Steve Decker said. “They made some good adjustments defensively.”

No. 1-seeded Sunrise Mountain (11-2 overall) was hoping to play in its first state title game in school history and get a chance at redemption against crosstown powerhouse Scottsdale Saguaro. The No. 2 Sabercats (12-2) escaped in overtime, topping No. 3 Gilbert Higley, 37-31, to reach yet another championship game.

No. 4 Salpointe (12-1) will face four-time defending state champion Saguaro for the 4A title on Dec. 2 at the University of Arizona.

Sunrise Mountain's only other loss came at the hands of Saguaro, 24-21, on Sept. 22.

The void of not playing for the title is extra bitter for Sunrise Mountain given that the Mustangs did something they avoided for the majority of the season — turned the ball over. Sunrise Mountain lost three fumbles and the mistakes all came at the worst time.

After each team had a possession in the third quarter, Salpointe standout sophomore running back Bijan Robinson fumbled at the Lancers 37 and Mustang senior Brody Webb recovered.

“Our guys fought the entire game,” Decker said.

Sunrise hoped this would be a turning point trailing 28-20 but junior quarterback Keegan Freid fumbled on the next play.

The Lancers drove to the Mustang 31 and were faced with a fourth-and-21. Salpointe elected to go for the first down and the gamble paid off as QB Rodrigo Nieto connected with Andrew Jacobs for a 31-yard touchdown strike.

Sunrise Mountain junior wide receiver Jay Anderson tries to avoid the tackle of Tucson Salpointe senior defensive back Derrick Bush. [Ralph Freso/For West Valley Preps][/caption]From that point on Sunrise Mountain was always chasing the game and Robinson.

“We knew (Robinson) was good,” Decker said. “But he was better than I thought he was.”

Sunrise Mountain had no answer for the sophomore as he darted, ducked and powered through the Mustang defense.

Robinson accumulated a game-high 281 yards on 25 carries including touchdown runs of 61 and 2 yards. He had 221 yards by halftime.

“We just didn’t let down, we kept playing,” Robinson said. “We ran behind our offensive line and waited for our defense to make plays.”

Salpointe’s running game was also fueled by junior Mario Padilla, who had a 59-yard run early in the final quarter to put the Lancers ahead 42-20 with 11:05 left. He added a late 54-yard scoring run for good measure.

“Our lineman believe in our backs and they just keep on the grind,” Salpointe coach Dennis Bene said. “After watching what they did we felt like we just had to keep running inside. It wasn’t adjustments, we just didn’t want to panic so we stayed with the game plan.”

Freid and the Mustangs did get off to a quick start, as the junior signal caller threw touchdown passes to senior Angel Ruiz for 14 yards and junior Jay Anderson for 28 yards in the opening quarter.

Freid added a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ruiz just before halftime to bring the score to 21-20, the closest the game came from that point onward.

“I’m not the happiest man in the world but overall we had a great season,” Ruiz said. “We didn’t get our main goal but we had a pretty successful year.”

Sunrise Mountain had one last glimmer of hope when Hunter Olson blocked a Salpointe punt late in the fourth trailing 42-27 with 7:27 left. Ruiz picked up the blocked punt and returned it to the Salpointe 15.

Two plays later, the Mustangs looked destined to inch closer but Freid had the ball knocked out of his hands as he stretched for the score and Salpointe recovered.

Freid finished 12-of-19 for 160 yards and Ruiz was his favorite target as he hauled in nine passes for 120.

The Mustangs' junior running back Drake Flores missed most of the second half after tweaking his left leg in the second quarter.

“It always hurts when you lose a starter but no excuses,” Decker said. “They are a great team,”

Sunrise Mountain still made a leap as a program this year, reaching its first state semifinal in school history. It was also the Mustangs' last 4A game in the foreseeable future, as the recent jump in enrollment moves the north Peoria school to 5A next year.

Sunrise Mountain senior receiver Angel Ruiz lunges for extra yardage after being tripped up by Salpointe junior Mario Padilla during the Nov. 17 4A semifinal at Ironwood High School. [Ralph Freso/For West Valley Preps][/caption]Score by quarters

Salpointe 7 21 7 14 - 49

Sunrise Mountain 14 6 0 7 - 27

Scoring summary

SM - Angel Ruiz 14 pass from Keegan Freid (James Hansen Kick)

SM - Jay Anderson 28 pass from Freid(Hansen kick)

S - Bijan Robinson 61 run (Michael Sanchez Kick)

S - Robinson 2 run (Sanchez Kick)

S - Rodriego Nieto 11 run (Sanchez Kick)

SM - Ruiz 10 pass from Freid (run failed)

S - Mario Padilla 12 pass from Nieto (Sanchez Kick)

S - Andrew Jacobs 31 pass from Nieto (Sanchez Kick)

S - Padilla 59 run (Sanchez Kick)

SM - Ruiz 18 pass from Freid (Hansen kick)

S - Padilla 54 run (Sanchez Kick)

Top performers

Salponte: Electric sophomore Bijan Robinson gained 281 yards and scored two touchdowns on 25 carries. Junior back Mario Padilla added 175 yards, mostly on two big fourth quarter touchdown runs, and a touchdown catch.

SM - Senior receiver Angel Ruiz caught nine passes for 120 yards and 3 touchdowns