2024 High School Football

Pusch Ridge avenges lone loss to Franklin, in first 3A state championship game since 2017

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MESA -- Pusch Ridge longtime assistant Lamar Lovett appeared as though he returned to his Arizona Wildcat days in the early 1990s and did his customary break dance around a circle of jubilant players on Saturday night at Mesa High School.

Senior quarterback/safety Jacob Newborn hugged those close to him, all with tears in their eyes.

Kent Middleton, who has earned legendary status in only five years as Pusch Ridge's coach, was not reserved with his emotions knowing his team still has one more game to play for a championship after beating No. 1 Queen Creek Franklin convincingly, 24-13 in the 3A semifinals.

After Middleton's team lost in the semifinal round in 2020 and 2022, he has cleared that hurdle and will lead the 12-1 Lions against unbeaten No. 2 Waddell ALA-West Foothills (13-0) on Saturday at Phoenix Mountain Pointe High School at 6 p.m.

"It's a reflection of our players, their attitudes and how hard they've worked," said Middleton said of Pusch Ridge advancing to the championship game for the first time since 2017. "It's a reflection of our coaches. They pour so much into these players. It's a great feeling to see them celebrate like they're celebrating right now.

"They deserve it. It's the ultimate. This is going to be a successful season no matter what. We've got great kids and coaches. I'm really happy to see everybody get this feeling that we have right now."

Middleton also offered consoling words to Franklin coach Danny Norris, whose team handed Pusch Ridge its lone loss of the season, 31-7 at Franklin on Sept. 6

"We ran into one of the top programs in this conference," Norris said. "Pusch Ridge ... three semis in the last five years. They are breaking through with that state championship appearance, and they deserve it. They were the better team tonight."

Pusch Ridge is in position to win its first state championship since 2015.

Not a coincidence: Pusch Ridge and Mica Mountain, Southern Arizona's remaining hopes for a 3A and 4A state championship, respectively, are each arguably seeded too low at No. 4 in their respective brackets and both have two of the best defenses in the state.

The chip-on-the-shoulder motivation with highly aggressive units is in full effect for both programs heading into their deep spots in the playoffs this week.

Pusch Ridge defensive coordinator Jeff Drescher pointed out to the Lions after Saturday night's game that they have now defeated two No. 1 teams this year -- at Thatcher 22-7 on Oct. 25 when the Eagles were at the top and now against Franklin. The comment drew a loud, boisterous response from the group.

Pusch Ridge will play ALA-West Foothills, which beat Thatcher 34-22 in the other semifinal Saturday, a day after Mica Mountain (12-0) travels to No. 1 Yuma Catholic (11-1) and plays in the 4A semifinal game at 7 p.m.

Two of the best defensive coordinators in the state are leading each unit -- Drescher and Brett Darling at Mica Mountain. They can put on a clinic of how to run a high school defense.

"He has just shut everybody down all year," Middleton said of Drescher. "His schemes have been fantastic. He's kept them fairly simple. He does a really, really good job. All of our defensive coaches do a great job.

"Our kids, they like to swarm. They play hard. They play hard from the first whistle to the last whistle."

Pusch Ridge's defense tightened at opportune times Saturday against Franklin.

It kept the Chargers at bay in the fourth quarter with two three-and-out possessions.

Two of Franklin's first three possessions of the game ended with turnovers at the Pusch Ridge 15 and 9 -- Newborn recovered a fumble in Franklin's first possession and safety Cruz Corona intercepted a pass in the end zone to quell the third possession.

Linebacker Levi Adcock also had an interception, stopping Franklin near midfield with less than 2 minutes left before halftime and the Lions leading 14-0.

Newborn's interception ended Franklin's previous possession.

The three picks in the second quarter give Pusch Ridge a phenomenal 22 this season.

"Our defense, ever since we played them last time, we've turned it up," Corona said. "We're on a roll. We didn't stop. It went from there. I love the guys; they're doing their jobs.

"The momentum has just kept going and going and we shut it down."

Middleton mentioned that Pusch Ridge "flipped the script" from the previous meeting when Franklin took advantage of five Lion turnovers to pull away.

"We were very aware of the fact that we had some takeaways early on in that game, and we kind of got them out of a groove," Norris said. "Our game plan was not to do that (four turnovers on Saturday). We didn't execute very well. There were just some missed assignments."

Franklin sophomore quarterback Gavin Wyler completed a 59-yard pass to junior Talan Speir on the game's first play from scrimmage.

Three plays later, Newborn recovered the fumble at the Lion 15.

Newborn proceeded to engineer a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that took more than five minutes off the clock.

He completed all four of his passes in the drive for 46 yards and rushed four times for 22 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown run to put the Lions ahead 7-0 with 3:56 left in the first quarter.

"We knew going into this game that turnovers weren't something we can live with and be able to win," Newborn said. "That was a big part of our effort in practice."

When my brother Andy was doing a video interview of Newborn, some of Newborn's teammates walked behind him in rhythm as if they were rowing a boat.

"I just love these guys, man," Newborn said. "God has really blessed us with a unique group of guys. We love each other, a real bond. We recognize it's brotherhood first and then we play football."

Newborn's interception at the Franklin 28 with 3:17 left in the second quarter led to another Pusch Ridge touchdown.

Blake Reed, a super senior who was granted another year of eligibility by the AIA because of a serious hip injury last season, rushed three times for 25 yards in the possession. His 5-yard touchdown run with 1:39 left increased the lead to 14-0.

Franklin executed only running plays, eight of them by Ridge Allen, in a nine-play, 67-yard scoring drive in its first possession of the third quarter. After Allen rushed eight times for 50 yards, Speir scored on a 17-yard end-around run to cut the lead to 14-7 with 5:13 left in the third quarter.

In what was a crucial juncture of the game, Pusch Ridge answered Franklin's touchdown immediately with one of its own.

Twice Pusch Ridge converted on third downs in the possession, including a 42-yard pass by Newborn to Dominic Painter that gave the Lions the ball at the Franklin 4.

Reed then scored on a touchdown run with 39.8 seconds left in the third quarter to give Pusch Ridge a 21-7 lead.

Reed finished with 82 yards on 14 carries while Newborn gained 46 yards on 17 rushes in addition to completing nine of 14 pass attempts for 119 yards.

The Lions' defense shut down Franklin with a three-and-out at the start of the fourth quarter.

A 53-yard punt by Tyler Nolan at the end of Pusch Ridge's ensuing possession, put the ball at the Franklin 25.

After another three-and-out for Franklin, that included a sack by linebacker Tyler Shoaff, Pusch Ridge drove to the Charger 20 behind a 20-yard run by Reed. Nolan made a 37-yard field goal to put the game out of reach, 24-7 with 3:23 left.

"We knew what we were coming into; it was revenge week," Shoaff said about avenging the earlier loss to Franklin. "We were locked in. We were preparing. We were studying the game plans and we were ready."

Much like what happened last week when Pusch Ridge defeated Paradise Honors 38-6 in the quarterfinals, Franklin scored a meaningless touchdown toward the end with 34.1 seconds left.

In a 42-14 win over Sabino on Oct. 4, the Sabercats also scored a touchdown in the last minute.

Take away those touchdowns by Sabino, Paradise Honors and Franklin against some of Pusch Ridge's second-unit players, and the Lions have only allowed four consequential touchdowns in their 11-game winning streak since that early loss to Franklin.

Four touchdowns of consequence allowed in 44 quarters ... Incredible.

"Ever since Ben Franklin, week two, we've been playing lights out," Adcock said. "It's all to Dresch (Drescher). It's all to the guys. Our defensive captain Tyler (Shoaff), he's been so great. It's a fun team to play on.

"So much energy. So much hype."

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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.

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