By Zach Alvira
Head of Content
Queen Creek appeared to be on skates in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs were punched in the mouth by Pinnacle and senior quarterback Wyatt Horton, who scored two quick touchdowns to get an early lead over the Bulldogs in Friday’s 6A quarterfinal game.
But the Bulldog sideline never panicked. They remained calm and played their brand of football. Eventually, the tides turned. After the early deficit, Queen Creek went on to score 38-unanswered points, not allowing Pinnacle to find the end zone again until late in the fourth quarter.
The 37-28 victory now has the No. 2-seed Bulldogs one win away from the 6A state championship game, somewhere they haven’t been since 2013.
“I think it shows the character of our kids,” Queen Creek coach Travis Schureman said. “There has been zero panic all year. We settled down and just started playing football the way we’re capable of.”
Schureman was nearly moved to tears reflecting on what a trip to the semifinals means to this team. The Bulldogs have 37 seniors on the roster, guys who stuck it out with the program through bouts with adversity.
Queen Creek won just three games last season. Many players could have transferred. But they stuck together and finished the regular season 8-2.
The togetherness displayed all off-season and throughout this year showed once again Friday night. The early deficit wasn’t an issue for the Bulldogs. Schureman said there were no pep talks or challenges issues from coaches or players to one another. They remained calm and let junior quarterback Tait Reynolds go to work.
“Nobody was talking about our guy,” Schureman said of Reynolds. “We feel like we’ve got a pretty good one. I challenged Tait, personally. Offensively, we wanted to show what we were capable of doing.”
Following the two early touchdown passes by Horton to give Pinnacle a 14-point advantage, Reynolds and the rest of the Queen Creek offense went to the ground game.
Designed quarterback runs, followed by read options and dives with senior running back Lucas George, slowly built momentum for the Bulldogs as they began to gash Pinnacle inside. George found pay dirt first for the Bulldogs, bouncing a 28-yard run outside to score.
The blip of momentum for Queen Creek carried over to the defense.
Forced to punt, Pinnacle elected to go for the fake but the pass fell incomplete. Reynolds made the Pioneers pay by finding tight end Dylan Sims for a 35-yard touchdown.
A fumble on a bad handoff exchange gave the Bulldogs the ball back immediately. Reynolds cashed in on a designed quarterback run of 16 yards. In a matter of moments, Queen Creek had completely flipped the script. Reynolds knew there was no slowing down from there.
“We knew it was going to happen,” Reynolds said. “We trust our preparation and trust the process. We play for each other. But [the first touchdown] did get us going.”
Pinnacle’s first drive out of the half stalled after Reynolds sacked Horton. A few plays later, he connected with Kace Grimmer for an 18-yard touchdown.
Crew Leavitt came away with the Bulldogs’ second interception on Pinnacle’s next drive. George then cashed in on a 20-yard run.
Queen Creek added a field goal late in the fourth to extend its lead. It left just over 3 minutes on the clock, which Pinnacle used to its advantage to score quick. The Pioneers got the onside kick and scored again to pull within two a touchdown and field goal, but Queen Creek recovered the next onside attempt, ending the game.
It was an all-around performance for Queen Creek, especially after a forgettable first quarter. The defense stepped up to limit Pinnacle’s offense, holding them to limited yards and four total turnovers on the night.
“Everything we did at practice was harder than what we saw on the field,” Liles said. “We made simple mistakes [early]. We knew it would be our last game if we lost so we just went out there and had fun. I didn’t want to have any regrets.”
Horton, one of the state’s top quarterbacks, finished 25-of-37 for 294 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions on the night. Pina, Alex Lugo and Jack Bridgford all caught touchdown passes from Horton.
Reynolds, meanwhile, finished 12-of-16 for 160 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He also rushed 18 times for 107 yards and another score. George scored twice on the ground and rushed for 76 yards on 13 attempts. Sims and Grimmer combined for 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Queen Creek moves on to the semifinals for the first time since 2019, when the Bulldogs fell to Red Mountain. They will face No. 14 Centennial, who knocked off the 3-seed Mountain Lions in the first round and No. 11 Casteel Friday night.
From one of the doormats to one of the final four teams remaining in the 6A Conference bracket, Schureman said he is proud of his players.
“They’ve stayed the course and worked their tails off,” Schureman said. “I just love these guys. This is such a special group.”
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