Higley walks off Desert Mountain to reach 5A championship
As his kick flew through the uprights, Konner Olson’s teammates created a mob scene. Carter Hancock scissor kicked the air. Bodie Graese flailed his arms in the air, unsure what to do or where to put them. Most of Olson’s jubilant teammates simply surrounded him with hugs and head taps, celebrating the kicker who had just sent them to the 5A state championship game.
But Olson, the man who put the finishing touch on Higley’s walkoff, 35-33, win over Desert Mountain, simply walked away, his demeanor unchanged. He acknowledged later that his emotion was “pure joy,” but also that none of this surprised him.
“I thought it would (come down to a kick) and I knew we would win if it did,” Olson said.
Indeed, Olson’s vision came to pass. And now, he is forever a part of Higley football lore.
Here are four takeaways from the Knights’ thrilling win:
A back and forth battle
Despite this being a high-scoring affair, neither side ever led by more than five. In fact, after Olson opened the game with a field goal to put Higley up by three, the scoring was as follows:
Desert Mountain touchdown, Higley touchdown, Desert Mountain touchdown, Higley touchdown, Desert Mountain touchdown, Higley touchdown, Desert Mountain touchdown, Higley touchdown, Desert Mountain touchdown, Higley field goal.
Yes, in a game that involved 11 scoring drives, neither side scored consecutively. Ultimately, the difference came down to special teams. While Olson made both of his field goals and all of his extra points, Desert Mountain missed a field goal and an extra point. They also jumped offside on a Higley extra point, enabling the Knights to successfully go for two. Meanwhile, Desert Mountain failed on a two-point conversion that would have put it up three with 4:22 to play.
That set the stage for Higley’s final drive.
Inside Higley’s game-winning drive
Thanks to its stop on the two-point conversion, Higley got the ball back at its own 29 needing just a field goal to win the game.
The drive, though, didn’t get off to a great start. After a quick first down, the Knights found themselves facing third-and-8 from their own 41. An incompletion and coach Eddy Zubey would have had a whopper of a decision on his hands.
The play Zubey dialed up featured Dominic Esposito as the primary route for quarterback Jamar Malone. Typically, it’s a standard five-yard option route that Esposito can turn into a dig, corner or curl.
This time, Esposito made two alterations. Before the play, he told Malone he was going to run it eight yards, right at the first down marker. And he ran it with an wide release, angling the route towards the sideline before stopping at the marker.
“They were playing the inside for (Esposito) because they like to drop back the defensive end/outside linebacker when they bring him down,” Malone said. “So as soon as (the defensive player) backed up, (Esposito) already knew, I'm gonna run to the sideline.”
The play worked to perfection. Malone hit Esposito for the first down to move Higley into Desert Mountain territory. From there, the Knights never looked back, using their run game to grind the clock down to three seconds for Olson’s walkoff.
Higley relies on Hall
For much of the night, Desert Mountain’s ferocious pass rush gave Malone problems. The sophomore had thrown just four interceptions (against 41 touchdowns) all season, but on Friday, he was picked off three times.
Instead, Higley had to rely on junior running back Daxen Hall, who averages just 13 carries a game. Hall ended up scoring three of Higley’s four touchdowns, including a 61-yard house call in the second quarter on which he showcased breakaway speed.
“The offensive line really stepped it up,” Zubey said. “And then that gives Dax — Dax only needs a little sliver. And he's just a tough SOB. He's gonna run, he's gonna turn, he's gonna spin, he's gonna put his hand down. He's gonna do everything he can to fight for those yards. So when you get the ball in his hands and he has a little sliver, we know that he's gonna do good things.”
The value of experience
Last year in 6A, Higley went just 2-8. But amid that frustrating season, Zubey saw something positive bubbling. The Knights were not just inexperienced last year, but young. So while they hung with teams for three quarters, they didn’t have the knowhow to pull out wins in crunch time.
Now, they do.
“We knew it in the banquet last year,” Malone said. “Coach told us we were gonna have about 30 returning guys that have varsity experience so we're gonna be a great team. Everybody bought in.”
It hasn’t all been perfect this year. Higley pulled out a season-opening thriller against Poston Butte, but dropped one score games to Horizon and ALA-Queen Creek. Each of those experiences, though, played a role in preparing the Knights for games like the quarterfinals (when they used a late drive to beat Desert Edge) and semifinals of this 5A state tournament.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Higley walks off Desert Mountain to reach 5A championship
