Ironwood Ridge held on to defeat Tucson 20-17 Friday night in one of the most mind-boggling games of the year. The Nighthawks dominated with over 420 yards of offense but the Badgers, with just a bit over 200, still had a chance to win even as the clock was winding down to zero.

The disparity in offensive production in such a close game was just one of many curious storylines in the game between 5A power Ironwood Ridge (7-1, 2-0) and 6A Southern/Tucson Sub-Region champion Tucson (4-4, 1-0)

The ground game, for instance, accounted for the bulk of the yards gained by Ironwood Ridge, with junior backup Nick Brahler gaining 144 yards on 30 carries. Brahler was called into duty after senior back Soma ikaika Helu went down with an injury. Helu was still able to collect 65 yards on 14 carries before Brahler came in.

“They just told me to follow my blocks,” Brahler said about entering a difficult game in a very difficult situation. “I knew my line had my back,” he added.

Brahler, the unlikely hero, had 207 total yards on the year in 39 carries while Helu was approaching 900 yards entering the game. Still, Brahler was almost unstoppable. Almost.

“It’s always great to be able to beat a great team like Tucson,” Brahler added. “We found a way to keep our poise to get this win.”

The Badgers gave up 350 yards on the ground but still managed to hold the Nighthawks on downs three times. Almost unstoppable.

But, on the other hand, the Badgers had a chance to win despite fumbling the ball away three times and muffing a punt – all in the fourth quarter. Add a dropped touchdown pass in the third quarter, and one would believe the Nighthawks would have ran away with this game but the turnovers on downs made everything even.

Ironwood Ridge took a 7-0 lead with 8:14 left in the first on a 2-yard dash by Helu. The score was set up by an 81-yard pass from Cole Gerken to Daniel Peabody. The long pass came after Tucson punter D.J. Hinton pinned the Nighthawks at the 3-yardline.

Hinton finished with 52 yards per punt and his second kick put the Nighthawks at another disadvantage on their own 7-yardline. Ironwood Ridge was forced to punt and the Badgers took over at the 30 and Jorge Flores was able to punch in the ball from 3-yards out a few plays later to tie the game up 7-7 with 4:11 left in the first.

The Nighthawks missed on a 30-yard field goal but Javier Dominguez hit on a 36-yarder to give Tucson a 10-7 lead with 8:23 left in the first half. The teams traded punts and then Brahler went to work.

Ironwood Ridge went on an 11-play drive from the 13 to take a 14-10 lead with 55.5 seconds left in the half. Helu left the game after a short gain and then Brahler picked up 65 yards on nine carries, including an 11-yard scoring run up the middle.

Tucson took a 17-14 lead with 9:11 left in the third after Tyree Pierson returned an interception for 60 yards. Game on.

Ironwood Ridge turned the ball over on downs on the next drive but the Badgers did the same after driving all the way down to the 4-yardline. The drive was stalled after a dropped touchdown pass forced three straight runs.

The Tucson defense forced a punt and the Badgers drove all the way down to the 5-yardline but a fumble in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter ended another scoring threat. Ironwood Ridge gave the ball back on downs but another Badger fumble followed.

This time, Brahler gained 31 yards on four carries to put Ironwood Ridge up 20-17 with 6:26 left in the game. A miscue on the extra point resulted in the slim margin.

The Badgers returned the kickoff to midfield and Hinton ripped off a 22-yard dash and that was followed by a 15-yard run by Flores to set the Badgers up at the 18 but another fumble ended that scoring chance.

Still, the Badger defense forced another punt with 2:11 left in the game but the kick was muffed and the Nighthawks took over with 2:05 left. But, wait, the Badger defense stopped the Nighthawks on downs one more time with 25.4 seconds left.

All the magic was gone by then and the clock ran out, giving Ironwood Ridge the 20-17 win.

“We had some mental errors and some mistakes,” Tucson head coach Justina Argraves told his team. “You will find in life there are going to be times when you work hard but things are still not going to go your way. Those who come back and work harder are the most successful in life.

“We asked you to put together four quarters and you did that. We all made mistakes and we all lost a football game. One person did not lose this game for us,” Argraves added. “One game is not going to define us but we just saw how talented we are.”

Another curious outcome was, despite the loss, the Badgers will be the Tucson sub-region representatives to the Southern Region championship game against Cibola (5-3, 1-1). Even if Rincon/University (3-5, 0-1) beats Tucson next Friday, the Badgers hold all tiebreakers over the Rangers and Sunnyside (3-5, 1-1) by virtue of a better conference record.

Cibola beat Kofa 63-28 to win the Yuma sub-region game.

Ironwood Ridge survived an important game to keep pace in the 5A Conference. The Nighthawks will host Cienega (8-0, 2-0) next Friday in an even bigger game.

“We have film at 8 a.m. tomorrow,” Brahler added. “We will fix our mistakes to get ready for Cienega.”

Brahler got his 144 yards rushing and Helu added his 65. Peabody put together 84 yards rushing to his receiving totals while Gerken gained 50 yards on the ground. For Tucson, Hinton finished with 54 yards rushing, Flores added 87 yards passing and David Montes had 47 yards receiving.