The Chaparral Firebirds used six touchdowns through the air from Jack Miller to fend off the Sandra Day O’Connor Eagles 40-37 in a game that closely resembled last week’s loss for the Firebirds against Boulder Creek.

Coming off a tightly contested 47-43 loss against Boulder Creek, Chaparral (5-2) looked to correct the mistakes from a week ago to secure the victory against the Eagles.

“Extremely proud of them,” Chaparral head coach Brent Barnes said. “We got put in a lot of the same positions last week and we didn’t handle it very well.”

After being down early on in the game, O’Connor (2-5) had several chances to take the lead late. Quarterback Ethan Moller finished the game with two passing touchdowns including his final of the game with eight minutes left make the score 40-35.

A fourth down stop on the team’s 31-yard line by linebacker Tanner Sharp of O’Connor gave the Eagles a chance as they drove down to the six-yard line of Chaparral before turning the ball over on downs.

After a three-and-out series by Chaparral, the Firebirds took a safety in the end zone drawing the clock down to under a minute with a 40-37 lead. The first play of the Eagles drive was intercepted by the Firebirds, sealing their win.

“Our guys really stuck together,” Barnes said. “I didn’t see guys blaming each other, pouting or worrying. They just kept playing, fighting through it, and found a way to make a play in the end.”

Chaparral came out of the gates firing as a short punt from O’Connor set Miller and the offense up from the Eagles 28-yard line. Miller took no time in finding receiver Tommy Christakos for his first of four touchdown catches on the night.

Miller found Christakos again for a 55-yard score, and the junior quarterback finished with three passing touchdowns of over 45 yards on the night out of his six total passing touchdowns.

“He’s [Miller] been huge, he was great tonight,” Barnes said. “We had a few stretches tonight where we were mixed up offensively but again we found our way through that and got in a rhythm, he played extremely well.”

O’Connor drew even at 14-14 with a touchdown catch and an 81-yard punt return by junior Damian Ortiz. The junior ended the game with two touchdown catches and the punt return for a touchdown.

“We didn’t give up,” senior Evan Chavez said. “Whatever they did, whatever happened, we stuck together, and we kept battling to that last second.”

The Firebirds outscored the Eagles 14-0 in the second quarter to head into the locker room ahead 28-14 at the half. O’Connor battled back in the third period behind two rushing touchdowns from Moller and sophomore running back Donavin Fontaine.

Despite the victory, Barnes still recognizes his team has room to improve. Chaparral never truly put away O’Connor as the Eagles battled score for score with the Firebirds.

“We’ve got a lot of room to grow,” Barnes said. “We’ve got to be a little cleaner, a little sharper throughout on both sides and all phases, special teams as well. I saw a huge difference in how we responded to adversity and that’s the big challenge right now.”

For O’Connor, the team focused on the bonds on and off the field, instead of the end result on it.

“You have brothers in football,” senior Evan Barnes said. “Football gives you people you’re never going to lose. That bond you have with those people is something different and I know they always have my back.”

Following the victory, Chaparral will look to keep things rolling in a home game against Mountain Pointe, while O’Connor will look to get back on track against Tucson High Magnet School at home.