EDITOR'S NOTE: This article has been changed to reflect that Angel Salas scored the fourth quarter touchdown for Camp Verde. 

CAMP VERDE — Sam Williams scored three touchdowns to help No. 8-seeded Camp Verde overcome an early 17-7 deficit in the first half and advance to the 2A state quarterfinals with a 42-30 win over San Tan Charter on Friday night.

It was the first state playoff win in more than a decade for the Cowboys (10-1, 4-1 2A Agua Fria), which managed to show how balanced they could be offensively this late in the season.

Buckley, who averages 5.3 touchdown passes per game, needed to throw only one Friday night against the Roadrunners, which had no answer for Williams’ big night on the ground.

“I have to thank my lineman, they did amazing tonight. They hit all their blocks. It was a perfect run game tonight,” Williams told AzPreps365.com after the game.

Buckley said the game plan was to “do what works.”

“The run game seemed to work more than the pass game so we stuck with the pass game. We do what we do to get a win and that’s what happened,” Buckley said.

EARLY MOMENTUM SHIFTS

Williams opened the game’s scoring Friday night with a 5-yard touchdown run after Camp Verde went for it on fourth and 6 at midfield, then received a pass interference call in the end zone two plays later.

But No. 9-seeded San Tan Charter (7-3, 3-2 2A Salt) wasn’t going to lie down easily.

On the ensuing possession, quarterback Zayden Neill found teammate Uriah Neloms on a 46-yard touchdown pass to tie the game, 7-7, then found him again on a 35-yard strike to give his club a 14-7 lead with 11:54 to go in the second quarter.

Neill would throw three touchdown passes Friday night, all to Neloms, giving him 28 on the season.

Neill entered the state playoffs having completed 136 of 194 passes for 2,025 yards and just five interceptions.

After kicker Daniel Dippre gave the Roadrunners a 17-7 lead on a 22-yard field goal at the 8:24 mark in the second quarter, all the momentum was on the visitor sideline.

San Tan Charter’s Uriah Neloms (5) gets up after making a big catch down the middle of the field. Neloms had three touchdown catches against Camp Verde in a 42-30 loss Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, in the first round of the 2A state playoffs. (Brian M. Bergner Jr./AzPreps365)

EJECTION

With 5:02 to play before halftime, a sideline judge threw a yellow flag near the San Tan Charter bench. Seconds later, the club’s defensive coordinator was ejected from the contest.

No comment was made by the head official, or the team after the game as to why he was ejected.

Nevertheless, the ejection seemed to take the wind right out of the Roadrunner sails and Buckley took advantage, finding wideout Christian Sanabria on a 15-yard touchdown pass with 4:28 left in the first half, cutting San Tan Charter’s lead, 17-14.

It was the 44th touchdown throw of the season for Buckley, who had completed 155 of 245 passes for 2,495 yards entering Friday night’s first round playoff game.

Sanabria’s catch gave him 24 touchdowns on the season, and likely put him over 1,300 yards receiving in 2022.

To open the third quarter, Williams’ 15-yard touchdown run put the Cowboys on top, 21-17. Buckley made it 28-17 on a 3-yard quarterback sneak midway through the third quarter and Angel Salas' 2-yard run to start the fourth put Camp Verde up 35-17 and they never looked back.

“It’s really our game plan every week,” Camp Verde head coach Aaron Gronwald said when asked about the more-balanced offense Friday night. “John Buckley does a great job calling the plays, he goes with the flow of the game and what’s working. We have more than two guys on both sides of the ball, we have a lot of guys that can get it done.”

UP NEXT

Since the last time Camp Verde won a playoff game was 2011, a 39-14 win over Phoenix Christian, the No. 8-seeded Cowboys don’t have a lot of experience to draw from.

Some of the players experienced the state playoffs a season ago, a 28-0 loss at the hands of St. Johns in an early first-round exit.

“We have to work hard this week in practice, put in the effort like we did this week so we can get another dub,” Williams said.

The Cowboys will face top-seeded Pima, which beat No. 16 Chinle 55-8 on Friday night in their first-round game.

The Roughriders (9-1, 5-0 2A Salt) lost only one game all season, which came at the hands of 3A conference Thatcher in Week 2, 19-0. Thatcher is the No. 1 seed in the 3A state playoffs.

“I think we’ve proven we’re as tough as anybody out there,” Gronwald said. “My boys are full of grit, they are never going to quit. I know one thing is for sure, they will give me 48 minutes and we’re going to do what we do. We’re going to take care of business, they are going to have a game on their hands.”

Buckley’s thoughts, exactly.

“I think we’re going to shock the world.”

Kickoff at Pima on Friday, Nov. 11, is set for 7 p.m.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on Twitter @AzPreps365Brian. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.