Sierra Linda senior reciever Stephon Daily celebrates after one of his three touchdowns on the night. Photo by Bailey Warren/azpreps365.com

Sierra Linda overcame a 14-7 first half deficit to defeat Carl Hayden 33-14 at home to claim first place in the Copper Sky Region.

For two schools that had a combined 10-74 record over the last four seasons, both have come a long way. Sierra Linda, 7-2, has posted its best season record in school history so far, and Carl Hayden has an opportunity next week to seize just its third six win season since their program started in 1958.

The playoffs may not be in the cards, as Sierra Linda is currently ranked #23 and Carl Hayden #32 in 4A. But both programs are to be commended for rewriting their history and providing hope for the future.

For two teams that many did not have high expectations for this season, they did not disappoint Friday tonight.

A 14-7 score at the half included a Carl Hayden team determined to run the ball with its Wing-T to control the game and a Sierra Linda team that rode the back of its three weapons: Carlos Montoya, Joshua Berg and Stephon Daily, who has only been playing high school football for two years.

After a 60-yard bomb from Montoya to Daily to start the scoring, Jaime Zayas and Kevin Equihua both rushed for touchdowns to go up seven at the break. From 4:17 left in the 3rd to the final buzzer, it was all Bulldogs, going on a 26-0 scoring run to finish the game.

Montoya found Daily for two more touchdowns from 29 and 66 yards out as well as finding Traven Vigenser for a 28-yard score.

“During practice we focused on communicating,” Daily explained. “We fixed the little mistakes that we had in past games and learned from them. We continued to build and gave us the tools we needed to win tonight. I appreciate my quarterback (Montoya) for the opportunities to make plays. I love this sport, from practicing to playing. I love everything about it.”

When asked about the success of this season, Daily explained, “We came from the bottom. We built this all the way up. It took loyalty, passion and the drive from everyone on this team to be on the same page and success just came our way.”

Montoya finished 14/20 for 276 yards and three touchdowns.

Daily continued his huge first half with an even bigger second half, finishing with nine receptions for 254 yards and three scores. Berg had a quiet but impactful 15 carries for 104 yards night and a bruising rushing touchdown.

Carl Hayden struggled to find consistency in the second half as it battled penalties and a questionable ejection to senior running back Christian Chavez, who had accounted for 60 yards on nine carries.

The Falcons turned the ball over three times in the second half, resulting in three touchdowns for the Bulldogs.

“We are so proud of the effort from these guys buying into what we are trying to build here,” Carl Hayden head coach Steven Arenas said. “We have talked about this for four weeks, just taking things one step at a time. We knew tonight was going to be a dog fight. Shoutout to Sierra Linda because I am happy for them, but we still have one more game left, one more game to win to be tied for the best record in Carl Hayden history. It says a lot about what we are trying to do here. It has been a rough going but I am proud of the way my guys fought tonight. Coach Nate Gill and I have spoken it into existence. No one gave us a shot and picked us to be dead last in the region, but look where we are, still fighting.”

Following three out of four winless seasons, Sierra Linda also has itself trending upwards.

“This is a great group of guys,” Sierra Linda head coach Nate Gill explained. “We play the way we practice and we get after it. This is such a competitive group, and they care about each other. When you get that mixture then great things happen. We had some self-inflicted mistakes, but Carl Hayden is a well-coached group and they pride themselves on being tough city kids like us. Some of those balls in the second half found a way to bounce our way along with our guys playing lights out. Daily is pretty good at football, and Montoya has done a great job all year leading our offense.

“This is all kind of surreal, we felt that this was the group that would turn our fortunes around. We started 13 sophomores two years ago. When your best player is a sophomore you’re not going to win a lot of games. We just knew we had to keep this group together, and they stayed together in a season we didn’t even play. But we don’t want to just be a good story. We want to have a seat at the table, but we are going to control what we can control.”

Sierra Linda will have a big test next week when it takes on Washington in its final game of the season. Carl Hayden will look to tie its best record in school history next week at home against Vista Grande.