Floyd Gordon is a ASU Conkrite student and covers Queen Creek for AzPreps365.com

The Queen Creek Bulldogs advance to 6-1 after a nail-biting win over the Centennial Coyotes 31-21 on Friday in 6A non-region action.

The atmosphere in the stadium was electric and this reflected the performance of the Bulldogs as wide receiver Crew Leavitt took the opening kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown. This play on special teams was able to set the tone in the eyes of the Bulldogs. 

“Special teams is apart of the game, it’s the third phase of the game so we work it everyday in practice and the rewards are going to show,” said Leavitt. 

The rewards did show, following the 65-yard touchdown throw from Kainan Manna to wide recevier Jhaheem Brown on the Coyotes, the Bulldogs respond with a 61-yard touchdown scramble from quarterback Tait Reynolds to increase the lead to 17-7. 

Centennial put together two-minute drill drive towards the end of the second quarter but the secondary was able to force an interception by Darien Kattner.

Coming out of the half, Queen Creek’s offense was able to get inside the redzone and Reynolds throws a 20-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Sims and increased the lead to 24-7. 

All of the momentum was on the side of the Bulldogs until Manna threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Brown for a second time for the Coyotes to go up 24-14.

For the rest of the third quarter, the Coyotes were able to force two three-and-outs then ultimately lead to a long drive in which they ended up in the redzone going into the fourth quarter. 

It became a game of inches as the Coyotes attempted three rushes attacks but were stopped at the 2-yard line on third down. They decide to go for it on fourth down, and Manna looked for play action and decided to scramble for the easy touchdown to cut into the lead to 24-21. 

With five minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs are putting together a drive by running ball to keep the clock going. Queen Creek get down inside the redzone with two minutes left in the game. Centennial forced a crucial stop on third down but the Bulldogs decided to go for it instead of kicking a field goal.

They ran a trick play that left  Sims wide open for the touchdown thrown by Reynolds. The energy was unmatched in the stadium as the Bulldogs closed the window for opportunity for the Coyotes to pull off a win. 

“Throw it to Dylan Sims and he’s going to catch it,” said Reynolds. 

General wisdom says kick the field goal in the red zone, which is what majority of teams would have done, yet the Bulldogs called their own number and were successful.

“Coach said field goal and we said no go for it,” said Reynolds.

It was a play call the offense perfected heading into the game.

“We’ve been running that all week and it’s been open everytime, I saw him crash down so I knew it was going to work,” said Sims. 

Queen Creek faced adversity in that second half, yet the focus and hunger to win never waiverd. The team stayed locked in and secured the win.

 “This is a special group who knows how to do it on their own. No game is set and stone. We learned early on in the game against Castiel to make a comeback so they understand that no game is ever out of reach so they come ready to play each quarterm” Queen Creek coach Travis Schureman said.

The Bullogs sealed the deal with the game ending interception by Myles Sargent and the final score is 31-21.