By Mark Carlisle
Twitter: @mwcarlisle

For the second straight year, Cactus’ state title hopes were dashed by Gilbert Mesquite on a pivotal 2-point conversion play in the final minute of the game.

No. 3 Mesquite (9-1) outlasted No. 4 Cactus (8-3) in the 4A state championship game Friday night at Highland High School in Gilbert, securing back-to-back state championships for the Wildcats.

An up-and-down game in which each team looked like they might pull away at different times came down to one play: after a touchdown, Mesquite chose to go for the win with a 2-point conversion try rather than play for the tie with 17 seconds left.

On the do-or-die play, the Wildcats turned to the same quarter back-receiver combo that had worked for them all night. Senior QB Ty Thompson rolled to the right on what first looked like an option run play, but he looked back left across the defense and lobbed a jump ball up for senior receiver Eric Lira, who pulled it in despite double coverage, giving Mesquite the lead and the title.

“I knew we were going to get it,” said Thompson, who has committed to play at Oregon next year. “I mean, it never crossed my mind that we weren’t going to convert, you know, pull it out. I just had full faith in my team, and you saw, we pulled it out.”

After the game, Cactus Coach Joseph Ortiz said his team was the better team Friday and same it was their game to win. He felt they were cheated by a defensive pass interference call on Mesquite’s winning drive that negated a Cactus interception that would have clinched the game.

“We should have won that game. We were the better team; it wasn’t even close,” Ortiz said. “That being said, I’m so proud of these kids and what they accomplished. (They) gelled together, only eight seniors, all (the rest) sophomores and juniors. So proud of them. I’m so proud of them. They deserve more than this.”

The deciding 2-point conversion was all too reminiscent of how Cactus’ playoff run came to an end last season. Cactus met Mesquite in the semifinals in 2019. That time the Cobras went for 2 to win the game in the final minute but came up short on a run up the middle, securing a 1-point victory for the Wildcats. Mesquite went on to defeat Desert Edge for their first state championship.

Thompson and Lira provided nearly all of the Wildcats’ offense Friday. Thompson completed 25 of 35 passes for 340 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He also ran 24 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Lira was Thompson’s go-to man all day, catching 15 of his 25 completions for 258 yards and all three of Thompson’s passing touchdowns.

Each team led by two touchdowns at points and each team had a stretch of 18 unanswered points. It was a game full of unusual scoring totals as each team was inconsistent on point-after tries. Cactus was 3 for 4 on 2-point tries and 0 for 1 on extra points. Mesquite was 1 for 3 on both PATs and 2-point tries, converting its only successful 2-point conversion when the game was on the line at the end.

“We were planning on going for 2 all week,” said Mesquite Coach Scott Hare about the choice to play for the win in the final minute instead of the tie. “And it was kind of ironic, you know, we were joking around, ‘There’s no way this game’s going to come back down to a 2-point conversion.’ We had a couple 2-point plays. I botched them all night. They were awful. Every 2-point play that I actually liked and we worked on didn’t work."

The Cobras struck first. After a long kickoff return and 5-yard penalty, sophomore quarterback Will Galvan connected with receiver Joseph Lagafuaina on a screen pass that the junior took 50-yards to the house on the game’s first play from scrimmage, thanks to some good downfield blocks. A blocked PAT resulted in a 6-0 Cactus lead.

Galvan completed 6 of 10 passes for 94 yards on the day with just the one touchdown and no turnovers. He also added 54 yards on the ground on six carries.

After an unsuccessful first drive, Mesquite’s second drive was also a one-play score, with Thompson finding Lira downfield on a deep post route, where he had several steps on the defender. Mesquite missed the PAT, keeping the game tied at 6.

The momentum then swung wildly in the Wildcats’ favor thanks to two Cactus fumbles. Mesquite junior Andrew Morris stripped Cactus junior running back Aki Pulu, scooped up the fumble and returned it about 50 yards for a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, Lira recovered a Cactus fumble to put the ball right back in the Wildcats’ paws. On the second play of the drive, Thompson connected with Lira on the same deep post route for a 47-yard pass to the 1-yard line and Thompson punched it in on the ground from there. Mesquite failed the 2-point attempts on both fumble-fueled scores, giving them an 18-6 lead after a quarter.

The Cobras’ ground game surged in the second quarter, lead by sophomore Damian Jiles who had three rushing touchdowns and 83 rushing yards in the quarter. Jiles finished with 124 yards on 22 carries. Cactus was successful on all three 2-point tries in the quarter, and they started the quarter with a different type of 2-point score — junior defensive end Justin Holmes sacking Thompson in the end zone for a safety.

Late in the second, the Cobras had answered right back with 18 unanswered points of their own and had a 24-18 lead. Mesquite faced a pivotal 4th and 1 at the Cactus 35-yard line. Rather than try a power run, Thompson lofted it over the defense to Lira in single-coverage, who outran the defender for a 35-yard score. They missed the 2-point try to tie the game at 24. After Jiles’ final score of the quarter, Cactus took a 32-24 lead into the half, having outscored Mesquite 26-6 in the second quarter.

Cactus added on to start the second half. After the defense forced a turnover on downs in Mesquite territory, Pulu punched it in from the 2 for a touchdown, but couldn’t score on the 2-point try, extending Cactus’ lead to 38-24 midway through the third. Pulu finished with 51 yards on 12 carries.

Mesquite seemed to have no answer to the Cactus ground attack at this point, and Mesquite’s offense, while still operating with some success, was taking smaller chunks at a time. The Cactus D had taken away the big plays — three passes of 35 yards or more in the first half versus a long of 25 late in the second half. Thompson had also turned to his legs more, realizing he could gain 3-5 yards basically at will and also broke off five runs of 10-plus yards.

The shootout of the first half, with 56-combined points, had turned into much more of a ground-and-pound game, with each sides’ drives eating up a lot of clock. Cactus had to protect a 14-point lead for 19 total minutes. With the clock on their side, it seemed like even 3 more points would just about seal the game and the title.

But the Cactus ground game dried up in the second half, with backs not running with the same energy as before. After scoring on their first drive in the second half, the Cobras punted on their final three drives of the game, including 3-and-outs on their final two drives. From the first drive of the second half prior, Cactus had averaged 6.2 yards per carry on the ground. In their final three drives, they averaged 3.2.

Still, the Cobra defense looked like it might hold up. They held the Wildcats scoreless in the third, but Thompson scored on a 3-yard run early in the fourth, cutting the lead to 7 with 10 minutes left. After being forced to punt on the next drive, Thompson and the Wildcats got the ball back with 3 and half minutes on the clock at their own 12-yard line to start what would be their game-winning drive.

Thompson completed five passes, all to Lira, for 55 yards on the drive, including a 2-yard pass to Lira for the touchdown. A key call came on a deep throw to Lira that was intercepted by Cactus junior defensive back Andy Morales, but the Cactus secondary was called for pass interference, negating the pick.

After the game, Coach Ortiz called it a “terrible call.”

“That’s what makes me mad about these seven-man (officiating) crews (in the playoffs), because they just want to throw flags just to throw flags,” he said.

Mesquite had been backed up 15 yards on an offensive PI call on the previous play that upset the Wildcat fans.

Cactus’ future is still bright. They only started eight seniors. The rest of the team, including key players like sophomores Galvan at quarterback and Jiles at running back, will be back next year.

Mark Carlisle
Associate Editor | Daily Independent
@mwcarlisle

mcarlisle@iniusa.org

Mark is passionate about accurately informing his readers to what is happening in their community. He also loves reading and writing about sports. Mark has worked for Independent Newsmedia for five years. He married his high school sweetheart, adopted a boxer mix, and awaits his first child.