Mica Mountain extended its postseason winning streak to nine games and has shut out their last four opponents by a combined 162-0 after defeating Phoenix Thunderbird 41-0 on Friday night in Thunderbolt Stadium in the second round of the 4A state playoffs.
The Thunderbolts are looking to threepeat as Arizona State 4A Champions after winning back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025.
Hear what Mica Mountain head coach Jay Campos had to say after his Thunderbolts defeated Phoenix Thunderbird 41-0 to advance in the 4A state playoffs.
Mica Mountain (10-1) will host St. Mary’s (9-2) on Friday.
St. Mary’s won in overtime over Lee Williams to advance.@AllSportsTucson @MicaMountainFB
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
“The biggest thing was keeping number five (Daryl Little) under control,” Mica Mountain coach Jay Campos said of the Thunderbird quarterback. “We didn’t think we were going to keep them out of the end zone the entire time, we did tonight but we just wanted to keep him under control. We knew we could score some points on them when we were on offense so did a good job of that.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Mica Mountain used a little luck with an offensive fumble recovered for a first down, some trickery off of a fake punt that resulted in a first down and a nice floater from quarterback Adam Becker to Eli Palma to grab a 6-0 lead with 7:46 remaining in the second quarter.
It’s a freaky Friday the 13th night lights in Thunderbolt Stadium.
An offensive fumble picked up by Mica results in a first down, a successful fake punt resulting in a first down and then Adam Becker finds Eli Palma for six.
The Thunderbolts lead the Titans 6-0 after the missed extra point with 7:46 to go in the second quarter.
@AllSportsTucson
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
Thirty-one seconds later, Korben Greene intercepted Little at the Thunderbird 8-yard line to set up a Becker quarterback keeper to give Mica Mountain a 13-0 lead.
“That big play we had with Korben Greene intercepting the ball in their territory really flipped the game because we were only winning 6-0 at that point,” Campos said. “It gave us a short field and we were able to punch it in shortly thereafter and took control of the game and never let it go.”
After an interception by Mica Mountain’s Korben Greene on the Titan 8, a quarterback keeper by Becker gives Mica a 13-0 lead with 7:15 to go in the second quarter.
@AllSportsTucson https://t.co/3opmrKulZh
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
“We watched film so I saw they run screen game a lot, so I went to rush the tackle, and he swam right over me and I sat there and I saw the quarterback throw the ball, and I just had to go get it.” Greene said.
On third and 9 from the Titans’ 45-yard line, Becker found Ty Welch who ran down to the 1-yard line.
Jeremiah Anderson punched it in to give Mica Mountain a 20-0 lead headed into the locker room at halftime.
Third and nine from the Titans 45
Becker hits Ty Welch who runs it down to the one.Handoff to Jeremiah Anderson nets Mica a touchdown with 19 seconds to go in the second quarter.
Mica Mountain – 20
Phoenix Thunderbirds – 0@AllSportsTucson https://t.co/fJg7MgSQuL
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
With Thunderbird in the red zone, Mica Mountain’s defense stepped up when Ryker McFarland intercepted Little in the end zone.
“Ryker came a long way this year,” Campos said. “He’s one of our sophomores that starts for us and you can’t tell he’s a sophomore anymore. He’s playing like a senior now.”
A few plays later, Becker handed off to Anderson.
Anderson took off down the right field line for a 48-yard gain to the Titan 1-yard line.
The ball was fumbled out of bounds but was retained by the Thunderbolts.
Two personal fouls against the Titans put the ball on the goal line.
After the ball was fumbled backward for a loss, Anderson found the endzone to put Mica Mountain up 26-0 with 3:00 to go in the third quarter.
Mica’s Ryker McFarland intercepts Thunderbird quarterback Daryl Little in the end zone.
Anderson takes the handoff for 48 yards to the one.
A kerfuffle ensues, flags and hats fly.. offsetting penalties.
After a tackle for loss, Anderson finds the end zone.
Mica Mountain leads Phoenix Thunderbird 26-0 with 3:00 to go in the third after a failed two point conversion.
@AllSportsTucson
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
Anderson, a senior, had 929 rushing yards going into the second-round playoff game against Thunderbird and was averaging 7.5 yards per carry.
The Thunderbolt offensive line did a good job against the Titan defensive line opening up holes for Anderson to exploit.
“Those holes all come from my guys; I can’t do nothing else without them when I see a big hole like that I gotta hit,” Anderson said. “I gotta make sure that I got their back because I know they got mine. Big plays happen when special players do stuff.”
Mica Mountain senior running back Jeremiah Anderson had a big night in the Thunderbolts’ 41-0 4A second round state playoff victory over Phoenix Thunderbird.
Anderson talks about keeping humble on the road to another state title, his offensive line creating holes for him and adjusting to opposing teams’ defense during the game.
@AllSportsTucson @MicaMountainFB
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
A defensive stop on fourth down gave the ball back to Mica at the Titan 25 yard-line with under two minutes to play in the third.
On the first play from scrimmage, Becker found Kaden White, who ran it in for another Mica Mountain touchdown.
The Thunderbirds added a 2-point conversion with a Becker-to-Greene pass to end the third quarter up 34-0.
Brenton Baker started the fourth quarter at quarterback for Mica Mountain.
Baker, the son of Barrett Baker who played defensive back for the Arizona Wildcats, had two back-to-back touchdown passes negated by holding calls.
Brenton Baker starts the fourth quarter at quarterback for Mica Mountain.
These two beautiful touchdown passes were negated by holding penalties.
7:31 left in the game, the Thunderbolts lead the Titans 34-0.
@AllSportsTucson https://t.co/l9YCZIVZcJ
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
With 5:02 remaining in the game, the Thunderbolts scored for the final time when Nic Regina grabbed a bouncing punt and returned it to the house to secure a 41-0 victory for Mica Mountain.
Nic Regina takes the punt return to the house.
Mica leads Thunderbird 41-0 with 5:02 left in the game.
@AllSportsTucson https://t.co/Nr6w6QiOku
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
“I wasn’t supposed to be back there actually, but Eli didn’t come out so I was like ‘I’ll take it,’” Regina said. “Then coach Campos told me to down it, but I was like, I didn’t hear him. I heard him but I saw the seam with the ball, so I knew I had that left side with the angle I can break a couple of tackles.
“I know myself. I just trusted myself and my ability to get into the end zone and that’s what I ended up doing.”
Mica Mountain senior DE/TE Korben Greene snagged an impressive interception to set up a Thunderbolts touchdown and caught a successful two point conversion.
Senior WR/DB Nic Regina was lights out on defense ending the game as the leading tackler and returned a punt for a touchdown.
Hear what Greene and Regina had to say after Mica Mountain’s 41-0 4A second round state playoff win over Phoenix Thunderbird.
@AllSportsTucson @MicaMountainFB
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
Mica Mountain will host Phoenix St. Mary’s in a 4A state quarterfinal game on Friday night. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
“All you can do right now is take care of business in practice and be fortunate enough to pull it out get another week of football,” Campos said.
Game Extra:
Wildcat fans are everywhere.
During Friday night’s game, the Mica Mountains student section, with help from the band, broke out in a U of A chant.
Went to a high school football playoff game and UofA chants broke out. @AZATHLETICS @ArizonaFBall
Props to the Mica Mountain @MicaMountainFB student section.
@AllSportsTucson https://t.co/2kfpXEf0Ds
— Lori Burkhart (@loriburkhart) November 14, 2026
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