AHWATUKEE — Salpointe Catholic’s defense came to play on Friday night, forcing turnovers and making plays in the Lancers’ 29-12 win over Mountain Pointe. It was homecoming for the No. 12-rated Pride, who were upset by the No. 14 Lancers in a rather sloppy performance by both teams. The game carried a lot of importance for the Lancers, who are trying to secure a home playoff spot with only a nine-game schedule.
“Every win is important for us, every game is important for us,” Salpointe coach Pat Ryden said. “To have an opportunity to host a playoff game, that’s huge.”
Salpointe is 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the 6A Central while Mountain Pointe is 5-3 and 1-1.
Things started out in favor of the Pride when they won the coin toss and elected to defer, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Putting the ball in Salpointe’s hands first, the Lancers were able to make a statement on the opening drive with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Rayce Alvarez to Nathan Spivey. The extra point by Kyah Francone was good, and just like that, the Lancers were on top 7-0 with 10:42 remaining in the first quarter.
Mountain Pointe’s opening drive looked promising until a personal foul was called, backing them up 15 yards before the Pride fumbled and recovered the ball for a loss of yards. The two costly back-to-back plays forced them to punt with 9:08 remaining in the first quarter.
Salpointe’s following possession was a quick three and out, punting the ball back to the Pride.
Mountain Pointe was able to put points on the board thanks to a long filed goal by Francisco Orduno. With 5:40 remaining in the first quarter, the Pride cut the Lancers’ lead to 7-3.
Early in the second quarter, the Pride sent their field goal unit back onto the field, but the kick was no good this time.
Salpointe took over at the 15-yard-line with 11:07 left, but a quick three and out forced the Lancers to punt.
On the punt, Mountain Pointe fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Tre Edminson at the Pride 18.
Washington commit Raylon Dillard-Allen picked off a pass in the end zone and made a return to the Salpointe 43.
Mountain Pointe ultimately sent out the field goal unit, but a botched attempt resulted in the Lancers taking over at the 37.
Salpointe’s next drive saw the Lancers throwing their second interception of the night, this one snagged by Chase Shumate. Mountain Pointe took over at its 25. The Pride started the drive with a nice 13-yard pass. However, on the following snap, Dinos Drossos was able to step it up for the defense with a 38-yard pick-6. Francone’s kick was good, extending the Lancers’ lead to 14-3 with 2:45 remaining in the half.
“I was hungry for (the moment) too, though, so I was ready for it,” Drossos said. “The pick-6 was huge. I was up looking for the ball, high-pointing it. I read the play, I saw the running back got locked up on the screen so I came up and I saw the ball up in the air, jumped up and grabbed it, and ran the ball in for a touchdown.”
Mountain Pointe’s next possession resulted in a punt, which was touched by Salpointe on the bounce and recovered by the Pride. On the opening snap of the drive, Arizona State commit Michael “Butter” Tollefson was able to connect with Shumate for a touchdown. The kick, though, was no good, making it 14-9 with 1:30 left in the half.
Salpointe had a chance to score before the half, but a fumble was recovered by Mountain Pointe.
Salpointe had yet another turnover on the first possession of the second half with Mountain Pointe recovering a fumble. Salpointe’s defense held the Pride to just a field goal, though, as they cut the lead to 14-12 with 2:20 left in the third quarter.
Starting out the fourth quarter, Avelar had a 10-yard touchdown run to extend the Lancers’ with 11:53 remaining to play. Francone’s kick was good, making it 21-12 as Salpointe looked to pull away with it.
Mountain Pointe’s following possession ended with an interception by Cade Paglinawan, but the Lancers did not capitalize on it. Salpointe ultimately tossed the ball right back, with Dillard-Allen getting his second of the night.
On the first snap of the drive, Mountain Pointe fumbled the ball, opening up the door for a scoop and score by Drossos to extend the lead. The Lancers elected to go for two and converted, thanks to Spivey, making it 29-12 with 10:59 remaining in the game.
“I came in with my other linebacker and popped the running back and the quarterback at the same time and the ball came out at the bottom,” Drossos said. “So I picked it up and ran it in. It was great.”
“[Drossos] is a great football player, and I think you’re gonna see him get some opportunities at the next level,” Ryden said. “He has the ability to turn it on and really get after it, and he’s a little bit different when he wants to be. We need some consistency from him now down the road and he definitely raised his level of play tonight.”
Mountain Pointe’s next possession would be unsuccessful and would result in a turnover on downs at the Salpointe 12-yard-line with 7:32 remaining. From there, Salpointe was able to continue running the ball and moving the chains to drain the time left on the clock and secure the win.
“Hats off to our offensive line there at the end when we needed to run the clock out, they did a great job,” Ryden said.
On the night, Salpointe had four turnovers, three of which being interceptions. While the Lancers may have had four turnovers of their own, their ability to capitalize on the turnover game while holding Mountain Pointe in those situations proved to be key.
“Obviously they turned the ball over, but we like to think we force those turnovers,” Ryden said. “But we just made plays. I can’t say enough about our defensive efforts tonight.”
The Lancers will return home for the final two games of the season, where they will play Scottsdale Saguaro (coached by Buena grad and former Catalina Foothills coach Darius Kelly) in a non-region game Friday before meeting Phoenix Brophy Prep (7-1, 2-0) to close out the regular season in what will likely be a clash for the region title.
“I just told them again at the end of practice on Wednesday I didn’t think we had a good week of practice like we’re capable of,” Ryden said. “We’ve gotta get back to doing what we do and the focus in practice and come out and get better.”
Ryden summarized that the game against Mountain Pointe felt like a playoff game, and it’s good preparation for the postseason.
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