Walker Smith is an Arizona State Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to Cover Cesar Chavez High School for AZPreps365.com

LAVEEN-- Thank you. That’s what was said in the post-game huddle after Cesar Chavez High School lost at home to the state's third-ranked team, the Basha Bears, 59-7 Friday night. The players and coaches didn’t mope or hang their heads. They were clapping for their teammate, Jeramiah Uriarte, who showed more strength than any player in the battle. 

Cevar Chavez quarterback and captain Jorge Beltran played only eight snaps across two drives before injuring his right knee, ending his night with only three completions for 10 yards. The Champions rotated wide receivers Kezion Dia-Johnson and Christopher Madden at quarterback for the rest of the first half after Beltran left the field. 

“We don’t have a backup,” said first-year Champion coach William Chipley. “We are such a small team and are one-deep around the board. We lose one guy, it becomes a scrap job the rest of the way at any position.”

With 6:32 left in the first half and already trailing 35-0, Chipley tapped Uriarte, the school's sophomore junior varsity quarterback, to limp into the fray. Uriarte completed his first pass to Madden before throwing an interception to Basha's Tommy Prassas five plays later. 

Uriarte went on to throw two more interceptions to Prassas and Miles Lockhart. The Champions went into the locker room trailing 42-0, with the mercy rule in effect that ran the clock non-stop for the entire second half. 

Why did the Cesar Chavez players applaud Uriarte? He was playing with a hip flexor that hindered him before the game started. Despite playing a team that was well above his competition, Uriarte battled and played every offensive snap to close out the contest.

“I want to say ‘Thank you’ to him [Uriarte],” Madden said. “He is a little sophomore, he was injured, he wasn’t even suited up but he came to play. He ended up helping us out. Thank you to him.”

Champions lining up on the sideline before the game kicks off. (Walker Smith/AZPreps365)

Once Beltran exited, the Bears steamrolled the Champions in the first half, starting six of seven drives in the Champions' territory. Quarterback Demond Williams Jr. had 154 passing yards, four touchdown passes, and one rushing touchdown. 

The Bears closed out with Williams, Jr., scrambling for 22 yards and fumbling the ball in the air, only to have it plucked mid-air by wide receiver Dorae Scott Jr. in the endzone. Basha (9-0) would score two more touchdowns and a field goal with backup quarterback Ethan Lane in the second half.

“They just play a different ballgame,” Madden said. “We just weren’t ready for it.”

The frustration reached the boiling point early in the second quarter. Champion running back Micah Boozer was ejected from the contest after he retaliated on a hard hit by a Basha defender, starting a fight that cleared the benches on both sides. “We need better composure out there as far as sideline behavior, antics, and extracurricular,” Chipley said. “It’s a game that we get to play. It doesn’t need to be done like that.”

Cesar Chavez refused to be shut out. Sophomore running back Deven Highsmith expelled the goose egg with 1:50 left in the third quarter on a four-yard touchdown run to make it 49-7. Highsmith finished with 92 yards on top of his touchdown and a fumble.

Despite taking a thrashing, the Champions came together in the north endzone to applaud Uriarte. The message wasn’t defeat, but strength in their performance. Uriarte embodied how this team could take a punch and continue to fight hard until the end. 

With two games left on its schedule, the Champions (5-3, 0-2 in the 6A Central region) know they need to improve in order to make a playoff push. “This is a young team, I know they’re young,” Chipley said. “This gives them a springboard to know where they need to be.”

Cesar Chavez will play its last home game next week when they host the Desert Vista Thunder.