Chandler tops Hamilton for D-I title behind defense, Perkins

November 28, 2014 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


The wait for an on-field championship for Chandler High football is over.

The second-seeded Wolves got the plays they needed from their defense in the red zone and scored in all four ensuing possessions Friday night to defeat No. 1 Hamilton, 28-7, and take the Division I title at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Chandler completed the season with a 13-1 record and 10-game winning streak in gaining its first AIA-sanctioned football crown. Hamilton, which was playing in its seventh straight big-school title game, lost back-to-back title games for the first time ever. The Huskies finished 12-2 with both losses coming to Chandler. Chandler has now won three of the last four games with Hamilton after losing every meeting dating back to 1999.

Chandler, which won a mythical championship in an unbeaten season in 1949, won this one in hand-to-hand combat on the field. And it wasn't nearly as easy as the regular-season triumph that saw Chandler go up 31-0 in the opening half and cruise to victory. The outcome this time was unknown well into the final quarter.

Chandler forced two Hamilton fumbles in the red zone in the first half and its offense went on to score both times for 13-0 lead at intermission.Hamilton quarterback James Sosinski lost both fumbles -- one on a blind-side sack and the other scrambling for yardage at the Chandler 5. Kyle Hunt recovered the first fumble that led to the first of two Bryce Perkins touchdowns. The second fumble, recovered at Chandler's 2, resulted in a 15-play, 98-yard drive. Running back Micah Reed-Campos tallied on a 9-yard swing pass from Perkins late in the second period for the 13-0 advantage. That drive chewed up more than seven minutes of clock.

The Wolves' defense was opportunistic again in the second half with a critcal stop on fourth down and later in the period via interception in the end zone to end another Hamilton drive. The stop and pick were converted to game-clinching touchdowns in about a 90-second span midway through the final quarter.

While Chandler has been thought of as an offensive juggernaut this season, and rightly so, the defense pulled its weight and more in November.

"In all four playoff games I thought it was defense that won it for us," Chandler coach Shaun Aguano said.

Perkins closed out his prolific Chandler career completing 13-of-17 passes for a modest 132 yards and one touchdown. Perkins torched Hamilton in the regular-season meeting for 407 yards and six TDs in a 56-24 win. This night his rushing total of 73 yards on 12 attempts were bigger. Two were for touchdowns -- Chandler's first TD from 21 yards out and its third TD on a 7-yard run.

"When we needed Bryce to step up he got us there," Aguano said.

The biggest play of the game was Chandler's fourth-down-and-one stop of Hamilton at the Chandler 38. Hamilton running back Ari Johnson was stopped at the line of scrimmage, but bounced off the pile and headed to the right end where only one player was between him and a first down or more. Wolves defensive back Jaray Mills corraled Johnson and felled him for a 3-yard loss. That preserved a 13-7 Chandler lead and stopped a drive that had used up six minutes and was threatening to give the Huskies the lead.

“We were warriors every game,” said Mills about the way his defense played throughout the defense.

Chandler took over at the 38 and a 23-yard completion to Justin Jan and a 26-yard quarterback draw from Perkins were the damage that led to Perkins 7-yard score with 7:01 to play. Chase Lucas ran in the two-point conversion and the Wolves lead was 21-7.

Hamilton refused to give in, using a short passing game from Sosinski to move to the Chandler 15 in less than two minutes. But Sosinski under-threw Rashad Williams in the end zone and the pass was picked off by cornerback Kyree Woods with 5:23 to play. Chandler marched 80 yards to the final score all on the ground with Perkins, Lucas and Reed-Campos combining for all the yardage. Reed Campos added the final TD from 20 yards out.

Hamilton was 0-for-4 when penetrating the red zone and with combined with untimely penalties on those drives left them with just one score for the contest. Hamilton coach Steve Belles lamented that at halftime, saying the Huskies were beating themselves. Unfortunately for Belles and the Hamilton faithful it was more of the same in the second half. The teams were nearly dead even in total yardage.