The Desert View Jaguars made history by earning their first home playoff football game on Friday and they showed why they deserved it, defeating the Goodyear Millennium Tigers 26-13.
The sixth-seeded Jaguars also set a school record with their 10th win in a season.
Desert View (10-1) will play at No. 3 Desert Edge (9-2) on Friday in a 5A quarterfinal game.
“It is great to have our first home playoff victory here,” Desert View coach Robert Bonillas said. “(It was) a great group effort by the kids, the coaches. I’m glad the community came out here to support us. Its just amazing.”
It was a back-and-forth affair with Millennium that included both teams exchanging touchdown drives and defensive stops in the first half.
The Jaguars eventually were able to gain control late in the third and fourth quarters to win the game.
Senior running back Serge Gboweiah was the difference in the game rushing for 283 yards on 28 carries with three touchdowns.
“Last time (Desert View) made it, it was 2016, so we just had to make a statement. We came out here, we played and we made that statement,” Gboweiah said. “We just knew that we wanted to go a second round. We didn’t put all this work in for nothing. We just came out with that mentality and stayed in the game. At halftime, it was 0-0 so we just keep ballin’.”
Desert View got on the board first with a long run by Gboweiah in the second quarter. The extra point was missed giving the Jaguars the 6-0 lead with 9:49 left in the second quarter.
Millennium then answered back with a touchdown drive of their own. Zeus Pindernation ran in the 2-yard touchdown, followed by a missed extra point to tie the game at 6-6.
Gboweiah ran in his second touchdown of the game. The two-point conversion was not good, giving the Jaguars a 12-6 lead at halftime. The drive took 5 minutes.
The second half opened with both teams exchanging a drive that was stalled within their own red zone.
Millennium was able to finally cap off a drive with a touchdown in the third quarter with 4:41 left in the third quarter. Giovanni Peru ran the ball in from 5 yards out, putting the Tigers up 13-12 after the extra-point was made.
Desert View’s defense took control of the second half, not letting Millennium score again..
The Jaguars were in scoring position again in the fourth quarter. Gboweiah ran in the 5-yard touchdown, giving his team the lead back at 18-13 after the attempted two-point conversion was no good.
Desert View went to the air for its final score of the game. Oscar Barraza, the senior quarterback, threw a 9-yard pass to Rudy Rodriguez off a goal-line fade. Rodriguez also scored the two-point conversion to put the Jaguars up 26-13 with 4:43 left in the game.
The Jaguars’ defense stopped Millennium’s final drive, creating a fumble and recovering it to ride the clock out towards their first playoff win at Jaguar Stadium.
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