Maricopa-Desert Sunrise defeated Sahuarita 40-38 in dramatic fashion Friday night, thanks to a pair of clutch plays in the final minute. After Aime Lamour scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game, quarterback Kyle Sherwood completed the 2-point conversion on a pass to Ky’Jaun McCutcheon. Desert Sunrise sealed the win on the game’s final play with a blocked field goal.
The win for the Golden Hawks came after a back-and-forth second half that saw three lead changes in the final 10 minutes. Desert Sunrise blocked a 49-yard field goal attempt by Sahuarita kicker Raphael Villa as time expired.
Sahuarita battled injuries and adversity throughout the game, losing starting quarterback Rasheed Martin to a knee injury on the opening drive of the second half.
“Man, that one hurts, but you get into this business to watch a group of guys like that that went through some adversity tonight and some injuries, and a lot of two-way players to have a finish like that. I mean, we left everything out there,” Sahuarita coach Jake Allen said. “It’s a tough loss to a good team, but I couldn’t be prouder of the guys and how they fought.”
Sahuarita head coach Jake Allen talks about the second half fight of his team after Dane Hartnett replaced an injured Rasheed Martin at QB early in second half in a 40-38 loss to Desert Sunrise that came down to last play. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/Qx6F15Fiop
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) September 6, 2025
After Martin left the game, sophomore Dane Hartnett stepped in at quarterback and helped lead the Mustangs from deep in their territory to take a 30-24 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by William Thwaits. Trent Hubble then ran in the 2-point conversion.
Desert Sunrise answered on a fourth-and-goal with a 2-yard touchdown reception by Nick Droste, taking a 32-30 lead with 9:27 remaining. The lead changed hands again when Sahuarita’s Hubble scored his third touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run, followed by a two-point conversion to put the Mustangs up 38-32 with just under four minutes to go.
Allen praised Hartnett, who also had a pivotal interception on defense late in the first half, on his versatility and how he rose to the occasion at quarterback in the second half.
“He’s a such a unique young man. He’s a sophomore, and plays slot and wide out and safety and corner and outside backer and returns kicks, and then we throw him in a pressure cooker situation like that tonight and he doesn’t flinch,” Allen said. “He leads us on a couple touchdown scoring drives. The kid’s just an incredible football player. If you can make a football player in a lab you just make Dane Hartnett, because he can do everything.”
Sahuarita head coach Jake Allen on tough early season schedule preparing team to achieve its goals: “If our mindset’s right, this will be great for us on our long term growth this season, and as a program.” @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/FVu4DftSxO
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) September 6, 2025
While Sahuarita’s defense handled the run well for most of the night, it struggled at times to cover Desert Sunrise receivers deep in the secondary, especially McCutcheon, who scored on a 77-yard pass from Sherwood on the opening drive and another touchdown pass from Sherwood from 54 yards in the second quarter.
“It’s tough. They’re a balanced offense, so they ran the ball really well last week. You’re trying to play that cat and mouse game, shutting down the run and not being exposed in the pass game,” Allen said. “It’s a numbers game. So they got a good quarterback and some good receivers, and we shut down the run pretty well. They had a few too many big plays over the top, and that’s something we’re going to get on the whiteboard and fix.”
Desert Sunrise held a 24-22 lead at halftime.
On Sahuarita’s opening drive, it got on the board with a 25-yard field goal by Villa. Later in the first quarter, the Mustangs took their first lead, 10-8, with a 2-yard touchdown run by Hubble.
The lead shifted again in the second quarter when Desert Sunrise reclaimed a 16-10 lead with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Sherwood to Droste. Sahuarita then tied the game at 16 on a 6-yard quarterback run by Martin.
Hartnett intercepted a pass near midfield late in the second quarter, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Hubble to cut Sahuarita’s deficit to 24-22. The Mustangs failed on a 2-point conversion attempt. Desert Sunrise fumbled on the following drive and Sahuarita’s Sergio Burgos Jr. recovered but Villa missed a 45-yard field goal attempt, and the Golden Hawks maintained their lead heading into the break.
Despite the loss on Friday and a 36-10 loss at Walden Grove in its season opener last week, Allen believes the goals of winning the 4A Gila and making the playoffs are still very much in play for the Mustangs and that the challenging early-season schedule will prepare them to meet their goals.
Allen put together a tougher non-region schedule this season after Sahuarita missed out on the 16-team state playoff bracket last season despite a 7-3 record and an undefeated record in 4A Gila.
“We picked the schedule and we’ve got to own it,” Allen said. “We’re playing a lot of good teams this season, and a lot of them early, so if our mindset is right, this will be great for us on our long term growth this season, and then as a program.”
Sahuarita will play at Nogales (2-0) next Friday at 7 p.m.
FOLLOW @KEVINMURFEE ON TWITTER! ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com writer Kevin Murphy was born and raised in Tucson, and has followed Arizona Wildcats athletics since childhood. Murphy is a journalist product manager with the Green Valley News & the Sahuarita Sun. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.
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