Only Cromer Field saved Flagstaff High School on a late Halloween afternoon from its loss to Cactus High School forever being tagged The Nightmare on Elm Street.

But it was Coconino High School’s home field, not Flagstaff’s on-campus home stadium, that played host to the Eagles’ 45-6 blowout defeat by the Cobras in a 4A Conference Freedom matchup Saturday, Oct. 31.

“We have one of the best defenses in 4A,” Cobras head coach Joseph Ortiz said. “No doubt.”

Following two October losses in which Cactus scored just a lone touchdown while giving up 60 points to 5A Conference West I Region powers Desert Edge and Sunrise Mountain high schools, the Cobras have outscored their three 4A victims by a combined score of 148-20.

“We definitely could’ve played a better game, but I’m proud of my kids,” Eagles head coach Todd Hanley said. “They stayed tough, didn’t give up [and] kept playing. So that’s all we can ask.”

With a Senior Night win Friday, Nov. 6, over Northwest Christian High School, the Cobras can claim their first 4A West Valley Region title--and their first region or section title of any kind in a decade.

“We’re super young, so we’ve got to be more mature, and we still left some plays on the field we need to execute better at,” Ortiz said. “But we’re going to get better every week, and hopefully, come playoff time, we’re clicking on all cylinders.”

Junior Gabriel Reyes and sophomore Damian Jiles each rushed for touchdowns and combined for nearly 100 yards on the ground. This attack balanced two touchdown passes by starting sophomore quarterback Will Galvan to junior Joseph Lagafuaina, a transfer to Cactus from Moon Valley High School along with fellow junior wideout Chris Thomas.

That would have been more than enough to win comfortably, but for the second straight game, Ortiz split Galvan out wide in a Wildcat formation every three series, bringing in sophomore Liberty High School transfer Chase Jasinski behind center.

Jasinski connected with Galvan three times for 48 yards and, in the second quarter, would hook up through the air with Thomas and ex-Sunrise Mountain tight end Ashton Wendelschafer for touchdowns, as the Cobras’ no-huddle offense scored early, scored often, scored quickly and in a variety of ways, all in the first half.

“We have seven transfers eligible now,” Ortiz said. “We had one come back--due to COVID, he had to be quarantined--but he’s probably one of our better players, in Aki Pulu."

Pulu, in his first game at linebacker after transferring from Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, “had a bunch of tackles [and] some sacks," Ortiz said. "He ran the ball for us a little bit; he was our kicker; he was our punter; he kind of did it all for us.”

Pulu also, along with “amazing” fellow junior linebacker Ata Teutupe, Ortiz said, spearheaded a Cobras defense that held leading Eagle rusher Luis Jaramillo to a season-low 67 yards on 16 carries.

“He’s a strong running back; he broke a lot of tackles still,” Ortiz said. “We knew the runs they were doing and how they were trying to get him the ball. We were able to get him when we needed to most of the game.”

Although Jaramillo, a first-team all Grand Canyon Region running back last season who has run for more than 2,500 career yards, broke through for a seven-yard score five minutes into the fourth quarter, that came nearly a full half after Teutupe blocked a punt, picked up the football and ran it seven yards into the Eagles’ end zone to put Cactus up 45-0.

“We conditioned extra this week,” Ortiz said. “We feel pretty good; we felt that we were ready.”

The Cobra defense also successfully constricted to shut down Eagles starting quarterback Morgan Bewley in the red zone. Bewley completed nine of his passes for 166 yards, but also had nine incompletions, including a second-quarter overthrow of fellow senior Ryan Tagle on fourth down from the Cactus 28-yard-line.

Most of these incompletions, Hanley added, were catches Bewley’s receivers normally make.  

“We felt like we stretched the field, and their defense,” Hanley said. “We just, for whatever reason, couldn’t pull it in.”

Beyond Tagle’s 175 yards receiving, only two other Flagstaff receivers caught passes thrown by Bewley and his junior backup Bodie Maier, and for just 40 yards total.

“You can see how special Ryan Tagle is,” Hanley said. “They were bracketing him, and he was still getting catches [and] making plays.”

Already down 32-0, the Eagles not only lost possession on downs on the overthrow of Tagle, but gave up the longest offensive play of the night the very next play. Jasinski found wide receiver Chris Thomas bisecting the Eagle secondary on a 72-yard slant over the middle that essentially ended the competitive phase of the contest with two minutes to play before halftime.

“Block and tackle better, and you win,” Hanley said. “I know it’s an old cliché, but I don’t see anything big we have to do different[ly]. It’s just fundamental stuff, the basics we just have to play better.”

The Eagles can still win the Grand Canyon Region but would need to win their final two games, including over undefeated rival Coconino High School in their Friday, Nov. 13, finale.

“I know it’s not an automatic [berth] into the playoffs, but that’s a big deal for this program,” Hanley said. “They haven’t seen a region title in about 15 years or so.”