D-III football: Tempe gets boost from defense to KO Cactus

November 14, 2014 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


After the first two possessions of Friday's Division III quarterfinal game between Tempe and Cactus, the expected shootout was on.

But the way Tempe's defense performed from that point on it really wasn't a shootout. The No. 3 Buffaloes forced four turnovers and  that helped the offense come away with its usual barrage of points in a 41-21 triumph over the No. 11 Cobras at Bruce Harper Stadium.

It was the first of those four turnovers Tempe's defense forced that was key in the mind of Tempe coach Brian Walker. That first Cactus miscue was a pick-6 by Tempe sophomore defensive back Deandre Hughes

"That interception woke us up," Walker said. "We knew coming in Cactus had a great offense. We came through with a strong defensive effort."

Tempe remained unbeaten at 12-0 and advances to the semifinals on Friday Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. at Campo Verde High School against No. 2 Williams Field. Williams Field advanced by blasting Moon Valley, 53-12. It's also Tempe's first trip to the semis since 2001 when it lost to Greenway. Cactus, which did not have veteran coach Larry Fetkenhier coaching on the sidelines for the second week in a row following cancer surgery, finished its season 9-3. 

Both teams scored rather easily on their first possessions, taking about three minutes each to score. Tempe got on the board first on a Joey Savage TD run. Cactus answered with a 6-yard TD pass from quarterback Preston Guerra.

When Cactus forced Tempe to punt to close out the Buffaloes' second series, Cactus had its chance to take the lead. On the third play of that possession, Guerra threw a pass in the flat that deflected off his receiver's hands and into the waiting arms of Hughes. Hughes sped 35 yards to paydirt and Tempe led for good, 14-7, with 3:14 left in the opening period.

The next four Cactus possessions ended on downs, another interception, a fumble and a punt after successive tackles/sacks for loss by Tempe. Tempe scored its third touchdown of the first half with 33 seconds left on a 20-yard scramble up the middle by senior quarterback Emanuel Gant. Tempe led 20-7 at intermission. The Buffs limited Cactus to 125 yards on offense the first 24 minutes and kept constant pressure on Guerra when he set up in the pocket to throw. Tempe sophomore My-King Johnson recorded three of Tempe's four sacks in the first half.

Cactus hoped to build some momentum to begin the second half getting the first possession. Tempe forced another fumble on the Cobras' third play and recovered at the Cactus 22. Two plays later running back Miguel Mendoza powered up for the middle for a 7-yard TD to make it 27-7 just 46 seconds into the quarter.

Tempe's defense gave its offense solid field position again four plays later. Cactus tried a fake puint on fourth-and-1 from its 44, but it was stuffed by Tempe for a three-yard loss. Tempe overcame three penalties on the possession and broke the game open with Gant hooking up with Hughes on a 34-yard TD strike on third-and-27. That bumped the lead to 34-7 at the 6:31 mark of the quarter.

"Coach (Sammy) Johns has done a great job with the defense," Walker said. "Since the first three weeks the guys on defense have bought in."

Gant, who was 7-of-18 passing in the first half for 104 yards, finished with two TD passes and his running tally. Gant was 6-of-9 in the third period for 95 yards and both his TDs through the air. The second TD pass connected later in the third period to Bilal Muhammad from 19 yards out.

Guerra added two more TD passes -- one each in the third and fourth quarters. The second went to Xavier Villarreal and the final one went to Uriah. Both were too little, too late.

 

 

 

 

 

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