CHANDLER — It was a rough night Friday for the Salpointe Catholic Lancers, rated No. 12 in the Open Division.
They struggled to perform on both sides of the ball. Top-rated Basha was able to blow past them 58-7.
The Bears (7-0, 2-0 in 6A Southern) were the Lancers’ second regional opponent. Salpointe (4-3, 0-2) fell to the Mesa Jackrabbits 23-14 at home to open region play Oct. 3. Basha is by far the most talented team Salpointe will go up against this season, and coach Pat Ryden hopes his team will learn from this loss.
“You know, that’s a great football team right there. They’re obviously a heck of a lot deeper than we are and you know, it just kind snowballed on us,” Ryden said.
Things got off in favor of the Bears when they won the coin toss and elected to defer.
After forcing Salpointe to punt, the Bears were held to just a field goal, as junior Mikey Barth was able to put it between the uprights for three to give Basha the early lead.
Salpointe’s following possession was a quick three-and-out. On the punt, senior Kaden Williams was able to return the ball for a touchdown. The extra point by Barth was good, making it 10-0 with 4:57 remaining in the first quarter.
Once again, Salpointe’s offense only saw three plays on the field before sending the special teams to punt. With 3:50 remaining, Basha got the ball at midfield.
Defense did a good job of holding Basha in the red zone, forcing a turnover on downs at the 4 with just 39.8 seconds left in the first quarter.
However, the defensive efforts would be wiped away when a fumble in the end zone was recovered by the defense for a touchdown. Barth’s extra point attempt was good, making it 17-0 with 34.9 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
On Basha’s following possession, it was able to score once again. Senior Brodie Vehrs was able to find a wide open Kash Brock for a 59-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead. The kick by Barth was good, making it 24-0 with 5:43 remaining in the half.
Salpointe’s offense came back on to the field and made a change at quarterback, playing Rayce Alvarez. Things seemed to be going good for the Lancers, as they were progressing down the field, until senior Mason Lewis had an interception, giving Basha possession at its 37.
It only took the Bears one play to score, as Vehrs was able to connect with Brock once again, this time for a 63-yard touchdown pass. The kick was good, extending Basha’s lead to 31-0 with 3:00 still remaining before halftime.
The following offensive possession for Salpointe found the Lancers stalling quickly, forcing them to punt the ball back with just enough time for Basha to score.
Once the Bears got the ball, it didn’t take long for them to score once again on another big pass, as Vehrs aired it out to junior Noah Roberts for a 44-yard touchdown. The kick was good, making it 38-0 at the half.
Basha got the ball to start the second half with a running clock. They put in backup quarterback Jake Rogers, son of former Salpointe coach Eric Rogers, who is now Basha’s recruiting coordinator. Jake Rogers was with Salpointe when he was a freshman.
Basha capped off a drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Joshua Gaines. The kick was good, extending the lead to 45-0 with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter.
Salpointe’s following possession was lackluster, once again resulting in the punt team coming out after just three snaps. With three minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Lancers punted the ball back to Basha.
Basha continued to look sharp behind Rogers, chopping away at the chains. They were able to finish off the drive with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Rogers to sophomore Justin Miller to extend the lead with 11:52 remaining in the fourth quarter. The kick was good, putting the Bears up 51-0.
More trouble ensued for Salpointe on the following drive when the Lancers fumbled at their own 26 and it was recovered by Basha. It took the Bears only three snaps to reach the end zone once again, with Rogers finishing with an 8-yard run. With 8:33 left, Basha led 58-0.
The Lancers never gave up despite being down, fighting until the very end. On their final possession, they were able to finally reach the end zone to take the egg off the board on an 8-yard run by junior Chris Cheney. The extra point attempt was good, making it 58-7 with just 3:17 remaining.
From there, Basha was able to run out the clock to finish the game.
While it was a tough loss for Salpointe, the Lancers have three more important regional games to finish the season, starting with Friday against Mesa Westwood at home.
The Lancers will return to practice this week as they look to learn and make improvements from their game against Basha. The way the team responds and bounces back next week will say a lot about the rest of the season.
“We’ve just got to get back on the horse on Monday,” Ryden said. “We’ve got three games we can compete in, so we will see what happens next week, but that was a tough one.”
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