No. 3 Marana, down by two possessions against No. 6 Goodyear Millennium entering the fourth quarter Saturday, was staring at another elimination in the quarterfinal round at home in the 6A state playoffs.
Last year about this time, the Tigers lost their first game of the season in a heartbreaker against Glendale Mountain Ridge to end their inaugural season short of their goal of winning a title.
With many of Marana’s players returning, the Tigers played in the fourth quarter Saturday like they did not want to experience that grief again.
A 1-yard touchdown pass from Ella Joplin to Malaysia Roebuck, interception by Madison Myers-Rebidas, 35-yard field goal by Peyton Sharp and game-clinching interception by Roxi Singer all occurred in the fourth quarter in a dramatic 17-16 victory.
“I know their pain,” Singer said, referring to Millennium. “We lost by a point (21-20 last year against Mountain Ridge) … I’m so grateful to break that barrier and take the program to the next level.”
Marana (14-1) will host No. 7 Mesa Red Mountain (14-4) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in a semifinal game. Red Mountain upset No. 2 Chandler Basha 34-0 on the road Saturday.
The Tigers won at Red Mountain 28-14 on Oct. 1.
“We’re not going to take (Red Mountain) lightly; everybody is better since the last time we’ve seen them,” said Marana coach Shaun Lara, who along with assistant Sean Roebuck have led the Tigers to a 27-2 record in the first two years of their existence.
The last time Marana saw Millennium was on Oct. 27 at Marana and the Tigers won 24-17 in overtime.
If both teams have improved since then, Marana’s competitive nature and mental toughness is where it should be deep into the playoffs.
.@MaranaAthletics coach Shaun Lara’s team came back from a 16-7 deficit entering the fourth quarter to beat Millennium 17-16 in the 6A quarterfinal game. The No. 3 Tigers will host No. 7 Mesa Red Mountain on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the semifinal round. Lara touched on Millennium… pic.twitter.com/ZGqjyySWeY
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 17, 2024
The Tigers’ fourth-quarter heroics were in contrast to how the game started for them.
Marana’s first three possessions ended with two interceptions and a three-and-out.
Millennium took a 9-0 lead with 9:30 left in the second quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Breana Saunders to Jaiya Davis.
A key part of the game was Joplin completing seven straight passes — all the plays in the possession — for 85 yards after Saunders’ touchdown pass to Davis.
The biggest completion was a 43-yard strike to Adrian Griffin. That set up Joplin’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Sadie Brown that cut the lead to 9-7 with 6:03 left in the second quarter.
“You just have to believe in each other; these girls are amazing,” Lara said. “We talk about short-term memory and next play. Good things happen, congratulations, high-five but next play.
“Vice-versa, if something bad happens, we throw a pick, it’s alright. Next play. Having that short-term memory wins those long-term games.”
.@MaranaAthletics junior kicker Peyton Sharp made what proved to be the game-winning FG from 35 yards with 7:32 left. It put the Tigers ahead 17-16 and that score held in the 6A quarterfinal game. Before she tried the kick, she noticed that some of Millennium’s players were going… pic.twitter.com/v7ZzAQ3TiZ
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 16, 2024
The first play of the second half was a 70-yard connection of Saunders to Davis that put Millennium ahead 16-7. Marana’s defenders bit on a hook pattern and Davis sped past the secondary to make the catch and head to the end zone.
Marana’s next possession ended with another interception.
Millennium’s 34-yard field goal attempt was off the mark with 3:24 left in the third quarter, keeping the door open for Marana for hope of a comeback.
The last play of the third quarter was a 43-yard pass from Joplin to Malaysia Roebuck that took the ball to the Millennium 1.
Two plays into the fourth quarter, Joplin connected again with Roebuck for the 1-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 16-14.
Myers-Rebidas’ interception, her ninth of the season, gave Marana the ball at its 41 with 10:41 left.
A 42-yard pass from Joplin to Griffin took Marana to the Millennium 17.
A sack put Marana in a fourth down situation at the 20.
Lara did not hesitate sending Sharp on to the field for the 35-yard field goal attempt.
“We have a lot of confidence in our kicker,” Lara said. “She’s great. She’s missed maybe one, maybe two, I can think of the whole season. Out of our (15th) game, that’s a lot of kicks.”
When Sharp lined her sights to the goal posts, she noticed that Millennium prepared to lift players into the air like a rugby match with players lined up behind with hands on their hips.
“I was a little stressed out because they were doing their little cheerleader throw or whatever they were doing,” Sharp said. “I was asking them (the refs) if they can do that, and they said, ‘Yeah.’ I took a deep breath and I was like, ‘I got it.'”
Her kick was straight and cleared the crossbar by a couple of feet. Marana led for the first time, 17-16, with 7:32 left.
“It went in and it was probably like one of the best feelings so far this season,” Sharp said.
The officials wound up throwing a flag on Millennium on the play but Marana obviously declined.
Roxi Singer’s interception with 40 seconds left, after Millennium snapped the ball at the Marana 34, secured the 17-16 win in the 6A quarterfinal game. Singer talks about the play, teammate Peyton Sharp’s go-ahead 35-yard FG in the fourth quarter, and the win after losing in last… pic.twitter.com/5bgflhGEh7
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 16, 2024
The next two possessions for Millennium and Marana ended with a turnover on downs.
Millennium’s last possession started at the Marana 41 with 1:45 left.
Marana’s pass defense tightened.
Saunders could not find an open receiver and scrambled three straight times. A pass attempt at the Marana 34 was picked off with 40 seconds left by Singer, her first interception of the season.
“My first thought wasn’t I needed to pick the ball, it was just I need to get this out of the air because the sooner it’s on the ground, the sooner we have more chances to play again,” Singer said. “When it landed in my hands, I didn’t know what to think. I just started running.”
Her flag was stripped near midfield. The clock ran out after Marana ran a play.
Sharp believes the reason why Marana won went beyond their skill and mental fortitude.
“Prayer is like a big part of our unit, as a team,” she said. “So we prayed, and we knew we had to absolutely pray, and that’s when (Singer) made the great catch and ran it down the field.
“That’s when we knew we had the game in the bag.”
ROXI SINGER GAME-CLINCHING INT https://t.co/Yzw7g0GUMe pic.twitter.com/vuEK3ntScr
— Javier Morales (@JavierJMorales) November 16, 2024
Joplin completed 21 of 36 passes for 211 yards with Brown (six catches for 31 yards), Roebuck (three receptions for 50 yards) and Griffin (four catches for 112 yards) as her top targets.
Saunders was 21 of 39 for 274 yards. Davis had five catches for 120 yards and Andrea Carmona finished with 79 receiving yards on seven catches.
Despite Marana’s Nami Singer, Roxi’s older sister, registering four sacks, Saunders still rushed for 38 yards on 17 attempts.
FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
Recommended for you
