There could have been panic by #7 Liberty after it gave up a 28-14 lead in the final four minutes of Friday's 6A football title game at Sun Devil Stadium.

But the Lions found their composure when the game went to overtime, scored in one play and held #1 Red Mountain out of the end zone on fourth down to walk away with a 34-28 victory. This was the first big-school title game to go overtime since 2003 when Hamilton edged Mesa Mountain View in three OTs.

It's the first football championship in Liberty's 14-year history. The Lions, finishing 10-4, were runner-up in 2014. Red Mountain had everything to be proud of despite the loss with its late comeback from two touchdowns behind twice. The Mountain Lions finished 12-2 in search of the school's third title in its history. The previous two came in 2000 and 2001.

"We had close losses to Brophy and Chaparral and lost in overtime to Mountain Ridge," Liberty coach Mark Smith said. "The adversity from those build character. Even at the end we didn't panic."

Red Mountain capped a two-touchdown rally with 58 seconds left when senior quarterback Hyrum Bowen threw a 53-yard TD strike to wide out Jared Wilson. The Mountain Lions needed a two-point conversion to tie and got it with Boren connecting with his favorite receiver in the game George Ramirez. A Ty McElroy 7-yard TD run with 4:24 to play was the first score.

Red Mountain won the coin toss in overtime and opted to have Liberty take the first possession from the 10 with four downs to score. The Lions took one down as quarterback Jonah Guevara scampered through the middle unscathed. The extra point failed.

Liberty's defense had the final test. It limited Red Mountain quarterback Hyrum Boren, who had a tremendous finish to his career, to a 2-yard run on first down. Two runs by McElroy moved the ball to the 3. The final play Boren moved to his left, but his throw was picked by junior defensive back Zay Johnson - the game's lone turnover.

Liberty High - 6A football state champions for 2019. (AzPreps365 photo)

"Red Mountain was the highest scoring team in 6A," Smith said. "We were looking to make plays in critical down situations. We made a few in the game. The last one was a critical situation."

Guevara was smiling from ear to ear as he got his turn to hold the championship trophy. He said the winning play was one they'd run many times before -- Purdue Flow.

"We find a way sometimes to make it a little more difficult than it should be," Guevara said. 

Two more key defensive efforts in the second quarter helped vault Liberty to a 21-7 lead after the teams played to a 7-7 tie after one quarter. Red Mountain faced a fourth-and-one at its 38 in the opening minutes of the second quarter and Liberty stuffed the Mountain Lions for a 1-yard loss. Liberty then took the short field for the go-ahead score on a 9-yard run by Jace Accurso. 

Red Mountain responded by driving inside the Liberty 10, but was forced to try a 23-yard field goal. The kick sailed wide right. Liberty took over at its 20 and in two plays - an 11-yard run by Accurso and a 69-yard scoring strike from Guevara to Carter Hill -- made it a two-TD lead at intermission.

The quarterbacks -- as expected - stood out. Guevara totaled 230 yards (175 passing and two TDs and 55 rushing and a score). Boren finished 16 of 31 for 275 yards and three TDs - two to Ramirez (7 catches for 93 yards). Boren added 72 yards rushing

Red Mountain quarterback Hyrum Boren celebrates after the Mountain Lions scored the tying TD in regulation. (Azpreps365 photo).

Red Mountain coach Mike Peterson harbored no regrets. and shouldn't after his team reeled off a 73-yard, game-tying drive in less than a minute and with no timeouts.

"Our kids played hard the whole game," Peterson said. "Left it all out there. (Liberty) was just a little better."