Hunter Kelley is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Highley High School for AZPreps365.com. 

For the past three years,the Higley Knights football program has found itself within hands reach of championship hopes.

Those hopes were cut just one game short as they lost the past three years in the semifinals.

The Knights have only managed one championship appearance, which came in 2006 when they lost to Cactus Shadows, 28-14.

This year, Higley finished its regular season last week with a 7-3 overall record and 4-1 in its region.

The Knights, who are the No. 3 seed, will host No. 14 Ironwood (6-4, 2-3) in the first round of the 5A playoffs on Friday. 

Higley runs a high-tempo offense that comes at you full speed with a junior quarterback in Kai Millner who has offers from Michigan State, Arizona State, University of Arizona, and Iowa State, according to head coach Eddy Zubey.

Zubey, who has coached the Knights for the past eight years, praised his quarterback's uniqueness.

“Kai is a very accurate passer,” Zubey said. “He has a very good knowledge of our offense and knows where to go with the football. He’s very accurate and has a strong arm. When colleges come to see him they say that he throws the ball effortlessly, which is a good thing for him, and he has a quick release.”

Millner finished the regular season with 2,073 passing yards and 26 passing touchdowns. He averaged 207.3 passing yards per game, completed 63 percent of his passes and threw only six interceptions.

Offensive coordinator Brandon Large appreciates Millner's skills.

“He has all the intangibles," Large said. "I mean from his play with his feet to his accuracy in the pocket. I feel lucky to have such a young, talented player on the team, and it helps open up the playbook since he has such a good understanding for what we try to do.”

The strong point of the team is their up-tempo, high-scoring offense and they try to snap the ball as fast as they in hopes of catching the defense off stride.

The Knights lost the first two games of the season but followed with a seven-game win streak.

Millner explained what changed.

“Picking up the energy and just trusting in everybody else on the field and then just going out there and playing for each other,” he said. “After those first two weeks, we had a players meeting and we figured out what we needed to do and we flipped it around and we rolled since.” 

During those first two games the Knights were also missing their 6-foot-8 defensive end, Jason Harris, who suffered a turf toe injury before the start of the season.

Following his return the Knights went on a seven-game winning streak before losing their final game against the Williams Field Black Hawks, 42-38.

Harris was awarded the opportunity to play in the Under Armour All-America Game, an event played in Florida that showcases the nation’s top seniors.

The winning streak also came with the help of playmakers on the team, including senior running back Isaiah Eastman, who finished with 2,228 total yards on the regular season. 

Also, Peyton Hill, who only played in five games this year and averaged 112 yards per game as a runner and scored seven times. 

As far as room for improvement, Zubey believes it’s the pre-snap penalties that hurt them the most. 

“It's the penalties being disciplined in that aspect,” he said. “The before-snap penalties, the offsides, the illegal motions, cutting down on the things that we can control.”