Kylan Weisser (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

The weight of being the top seed proved too much to bear Friday night with Mountain Pointe dropping a 56-31 game to No. 4 Perry in the 6A ranks, Cienega losing a 5A semifinal game 37-34 to No. 4 Notre Dame and Sunrise Mountain losing to No. 4 Salpointe 49-27 in the 4A Conference. Of the three, Cienega proved the most difficult to knock off.

“They are the best team we have played this year,” said senior QB Kylan Weisser. “It took a while, but our line controlled the game.”

Weisser finished with 90 yards passing but it was the combined rush attack from junior Jake Smith (143 yards) and Sr. Cole Fisher (113) that proved too much for the Cienega defense in the 5A semifinal held at Mountain View Marana.

Down 30-27 with 11:40 left in the game, Cienega (12-1) turned to Sr. QB Jamarye Joiner and he delivered on a 78-yard drive that culminated in an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jr. Terrell Hayward to go up 34-30 with 8:01 left.  Joiner was directly responsible for 73 yards in the scoring drive.

Eight minutes is an eternity in football and, while the Bobcats turned to the best player on the field to deliver a blow, Notre Dame (13-0) turned to the best combination on the turf to deliver the counter punch. Just as Weisser described, the offensive line opened holes for Smith and Fisher and the duo rushed for big chunks at a time and Fisher scored from three yards out to put the Saints back up 37-34.

Still, Cienega had the ball with 3:38 left with 70 yards waiting for the taking. Joiner was equally unstoppable, and he rushed three times behind his line to put the Bobcats at the 50 with 2:30 left but an incomplete pass was followed by a sack and then an interception by Jordan Stengel to effectively end the game with 1:53 left.

Joiner finished with 106 yards passing and 125 yards rushing to end his career with just over 6,000 yards of total offense in only two years of action. The future for the University of Arizona commit looks bright and he let his teammates know it was a team effort.

“We are the Bobcats,” Joiner told his teammates after the game. “This is going to hurt but we can’t cry. We are the Bobcats.”

Joiner transferred from Salpointe after his freshman year and he sat out his sophomore year. The Bobcats finished on an incredible 27-2 run that included back-to-back semifinal appearances in one of the most competitive conferences in the state and head coach Patrick Nugent hoped that is part of what the seniors would remember about their playing days the most.

“The pain hurts for everyone,” Nugent said. “There is nothing I can say that can take the pain away but your accomplishments are beyond anything we can talk about. When you look back, it will be the friendships that you built that will matter the most.

The Saints had difficulty moving the ball early and gave the ball back on downs on their first two possessions. Joiner took advantage on a 30-yard TD pass to Hayward to put Cienega up 7-0 after the first stop and he ran a TD in from three yards out to put the Bobcats up 14-0 after the second stop.

Weisser found his groove in the opening moments of the second quarter and he hit Sr. Blake Storey for 21 yards to cut the lead down to 14-7 and then disaster struck for Cienega on the ensuing kickoff.  The Bobcats fumbled a reverse attempt and the Saints fell on the ball to tie the game up 14-14.

The offense for both teams stalled a bit from there but the Saints made things even by giving the ball back on a fake punt from their own 16-yard line. Hayward scored on another TD run to cash in on the mistake and the Bobcats went up 21-14. A late field goal by Notre Dame made it 27-17 at the half.

Fisher cut the lead down to 27-24 on a short run midway through the third quarter and he put the Saints up 30-27 on a 25-yard dash with 11:40 left in the game.

“I feel nothing but excitement,” Weisser said immediately after the game. “It’s been five years since we made the playoffs and we haven’t won since 2008. All I can say is I’m alive!”

The Saints were on probation last year and missed the playoffs despite an 8-2 record. The program elevated freshman coach George Prelock to the top spot in January and he brought some of the magic he collected by being on the staff that won back-to-back state championships in 2007 and 2008.

The Saints will face No. 2 Centennial for the 5A state championship. The final game is slated for Saturday, December 2 at Arizona Stadium. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.