(Phoenix)- As Kool and the Gang once said, “There’s a party going on right here.” It was celebration time for Phoenix Christian as they roistered homecoming with a carnival, food trucks, BBQing, cars on the track, and oh yeah, a football game.

The Cougars prevailed, 28-20, against the Wickenburg Wranglers in a battle that determined the 3A Metro West Section title winner.

With all the attention surrounding homecoming and Senior night, it can become a massive distraction for players, especially seniors. Quarterback Adrian Fleming, though, was able to keep his focus on winning their most important game of the year so far.

“Your job for homecoming is to win this game," said the senior quarterback about coach Cole’s message to the team. “No one comes to homecoming to watch you guys lose. If you guys lose this game, it will spoil your dance.”

Fleming, wanting to have a fun time at the dance Saturday night, took this to heart as he finished with three passing touchdowns and a rushing TD, giving the crowd what they had hoped for. Fleming did throw an interception but was able to overcome it and lead his team into the playoffs in their first year in 3A.

The senior picked the perfect game to ball out in. With a loss it would have been his final career home game, but Fleming refused to let that become a reality.

Phoenix Christian ran most of its offense through the Wing-T formation, which is not conducive to big passing numbers. Fleming excelled passing in the Wing-T the only way a quarterback can, with play-action and rollouts.

One of Fleming's touchdowns came on his signature play, a bootleg to the left as he found receiver Jose Herrera crossing the field for a 50-yard TD and the first score of the game.

“When we have a back motioning and we pound the ball running, a lot of the times they’re looking more at the back motioning than they are actually me," Fleming explained as to why he is so dangerous throwing the ball on the run. “A lot of times what happens is the defense will shift with the motion of the back. They see that back motioning and the defense flows with it. You got the safety moving over, makes our guys wide open and all I got to do at that point is play catch."

Herrera, who has been on the receiving end of most of Fleming’s bootleg passes, attributed their success to the chemistry they have developed on and off the practice field. “It’s all about that timing we have," said Herrera. "That connection we have is not just because of practice it’s also because we’ve known each other for a while and we just have it.”

Herrera and Fleming aren’t the only Cougars who “have it." Teammate Howard Russell showed up again tonight with two receiving touchdowns and over 100 receiving yards.

Russell elevated up to the sky and pulled down the ball on a screen in the middle of the field seconds before the end of the second quarter. After turning up field and stiff-arming a defender to the ground, which has become a trademark move for the senior star, Russell used all of his six-foot frame to stretch the ball over the goal-line and score on the 13-yard pass.

Russell's other touchdown came early in the 4th quarter after the Wranglers had cut the deficit to two points. Fleming faked the run before rolling right and launching a deep ball to Howard who ran untouched for the 82-yard score.

The Wranglers kept the game close most of the night, for they knew this game could have sealed a section title for them.

The Wranglers are built around number 11, Bryson Alder, who surpassed 1000 rushing yards this season Friday night. his first touchdown of the game came on a seven-yard run. After the Wickenburg kicker doinked the PAT off the left upright, the score stood at 7-6.

Even after going up 14-6 the Cougars could not shake the Wranglers. On a 92-yard drive that took longer than the 2020 election, Wickenburg quarterback Calogero Dicamillo ran a sneak for a yard to bring the Wranglers within a two-point conversion of a tie early in the 4th quarter.

Wickenburg then made a curious decision to throw the ball on a bootleg for this crucial play instead of running. Wickenburg has struggled mightily to throw the ball all year, including this game. Dicamillo ran right and instead of hitting his open receiver in the back end of the end-zone he decided to cut back and try to run in. The Cougar defense converged on the quarterback and stopped him to keep a 14-12 lead.

This was the closest the Wranglers got. After giving up a touchdown and falling down 21-12, Adler fumbled the ball resulting in Phoenix Christian marching down the field and going up 28-12.

Wickenburg was called for multiple neutral-zone infractions after being drawn offsides by Fleming’s convincing hard count. This was something coach Cole knew he could exploit and attacked it all night.

“They’re very aggressive on defense," said coach Cole. "We felt like they were just going to be over-aggressive on the hard count and we could get that easy five yards.” 

Coach Cole knows all about aggressive as his team plays with an attitude. Whether it’s Russell finishing plays with authority or senior running back Zach Cline staring at the Wrangler sideline pointing at the scoreboard, this team plays with an edge.

The players aren’t the only ones with edge as even the PA announcer has become bold. “Looks like a spike from the quarterback," he quipped after a terrible looking pass from Dicamillo went straight into the ground.

 Coming into the season the Cougars had the same goal as everyone else, a state championship. The first step to that is to make the playoffs and P.C. has done just that by winning their section. Coach Cole knew this game was important, not only to win the section but in order to secure a high playoff seed and to host at least their first playoff game.

After starting the season off 0-2 the Cougars are now on a four-game win streak and have finished their section schedule at 4-0.

Coach Cole told his players when they first came together, “It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.” PC is living by that mantra as they have completely forgot about where they started and are now focusing on their next opponent, River Valley, and after that the playoffs.

It is all about where you finish and the rest of 3A needs to look out because the Cougars are nowhere near finished.