Basha freshman Claire McMahon caught three touchdowns and intercepted two passes on defense, leading the Bears to a 41-25 victory over visiting Queen Creek Thursday night in a non-region 6A clash.

Basha (2-0) used a vast arsenal of weapons on its way to 41 points.

Sophomore Luci Burt added two touchdowns for Basha. Her inteception return for a score in the first quarter gave the Bears a 13-6 lead. Burt added an 11-yard touchdown reception in the final minutes to seal the game.

"We played well in spurts tonight," Basha coach Ryan Johnson said. "We felt like we'd be able to score points tonight, which we did. We just weren't able to really pull away, and that's a credit to Queen Creek."

Basha quarterbacks Maggie Rendell and Amiah Walker combined to throw five touchdown passes for the Bears.

 

Queen Creek quarterback DA Marquez tossed three touchdowns and rushed for another to help keep the game in doubt. Kyleigh Holden caight all three of Marquez's scoring tosses with speed and quickness after the catch. Coach Mikel Moreno--still head baseball coach of the regining 6A state champions--made his flag football debut Thursday for Queen Creek.

"Honestly I'm really happy with how our girls battled and stayed with it," Moreno said. "We were going up against a stronger more expereienced team with Basha, but we found a way to stick around."

Midway through the third quarter, Basha was poised to put the game away. Sophomore Nyambe Hadsen-Taylor caught a 24-yard touchdown from Rendell, giving the Bears a commanding 27-6 lead.

But DA Marquez and the Bulldogs weren't done. On the next Queen Creek possession, Marquez quickly scored on a quarterback keeper from 54 yards, making it 27-12.

Marquez and Holden would connect for two more scores in the fourth quarter, but Basha had too much Claire McMahon plus a little more balance. Holding to a 34-25 lead with under 4:00 in the game, Basha manufactured a solid drive to close out the game on the 11-yard TD pass from Rendell to Burt.

 

 

Highland wears down defending 5A champ Campo Verde

Thursday night was the inaugural Vrbo Fiesta Bowl's Flag Football Showdown. The game pitted Highland--last year's 6A No.1 seed--against defending 5A state champion Campo Verde.

With the record setting duo of Quarterback Isabella Pap and receiver Madison Croger returning this season, the Coyotes entered the season ranked No. 4 in the all-conference state rankings. Despite heavy graduation losses and a new coaching staff, Highland came in at No. 10.

Thursday night at Campo Verde, the Hawks took advantage of their depth and applied it to near perfection in a 19-7 upset win over the Coyotes.

Junior quarterback Alexis Eley stole the offensive show for Highland, throwing for two touchdowns and rushing for the Hawks other score. But it was Highland's defensive mastery that ultimately won the game. 

Madison Coger--who led the nation in receiving yards last year--caught an early touchdown from Pap to give Campo Verde a 7-0 lead. It appeared as if the script would go to plan, but Highland coach Kenny Golladay had a plan.

"Going back to our first practices, I realized one advantage we could have is depth," said Golladay, a Mountain View alum and former kicker for the University of Utah.

Golladay had never coached flag football before this year, but his football intelligence played a huge role Thursday night.

"I decided early on before the season that no one should have to play both ways, because we should use our depth to stay fresh. But even after (Campo Verde) scored early, I wondered 'how are we going to handle (Madison) Coger?' But we stuck with the plan and our depth. We were able to switch our rushers in and out to keep them fresh, and it made a difference. We also knew Coger was playing a lot on defense."

Highland (2-0)  recorded seven sacks against Campo Verde. Junior Kylie Riggs led the pressure with four of those sacks.

Campo Verde (1-1) will need to regroup quickly, as the Coyotes take on Hamilton Saturday afternoon at Liberty as part of the Honor Bowl weekend.