A 34-point second half helped Chandler run away from Queen Creek Friday night. Photo by Bailey Warren/azpreps365.com.

Chandler found its mojo again in the second half Friday night at Austin Field to defeat Queen Creek 48-28 and advance to the Open Division semifinals.

The Wolves were down seven going into the half after a Anyale Velazquez fumble inside the Chandler 10-yard line set up a Payton Barlow touchdown to put Queen Creek up 21-14. But Chandler then went on a 34-7 run to finish the game behind the arm of senior quarterback Blaine Hipa and his three passing touchdowns.

“We came out with a great game plan but struggled to execute,” Hipa explained. “We came out in the second half and everyone was confident. We all executed together, and I am proud of my boys.”

Hipa also threw for 170 yards, with the majority of his stats coming in the second half. That included two touchdowns to senior receiver Kyion Grayes and a 62-yard pass to senior tight end Nason Coleman.

“Not much was said in the locker room at halftime,” Hipa said. “We knew what we had to do and we rose to the occasion. We ran a lot of outside zone and we knew we could get them with the play-action pass. We ran it and Kyion came open both times. He is a great receiver. He is the best in the state.”

In the first half the Bulldogs converted on two fourth downs that went for touchdowns.

Queen Creek in the second half could not find the same success as the first half, as its 1,000-yard leading rusher struggled to find open holes. Payton Barlow tallied 71 total yards and two touchdowns in the first two quarters but only 18 yards the remainder of the game.

“We just didn’t execute like we needed to in the second half,” Queen Creek head coach Travis Schureman explained. “They made some plays and we didn’t. Hats off to them. I am proud of our kids. They battled tonight. We dressed about 45 kids and they laid it on the line every single play. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t want to be coaching anywhere else.”

Senior quarterback Sebastain Tomerlin was taken out of the game in the third quarter due to injury but came back later to throw a 26-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Bryan King with 8:09 left in the fourth quarter. Chandler would go on and score the next 13 points to finish the game.

“They play ball, too,” said Chandler head coach Rick Garretson when asked about the Wolves first half performance. “But they couldn’t hang with us in the second half as a lot of teams haven’t been able to. We don’t panic. We rally up inside, go make plays and go win.”

Chandler will face Liberty at home next week for a chance to make its third straight Open Division final.

This will be a rematch from a regular season game Chandler won 41-21 and a rematch from last season's Open semifinal Chandler won 35-34 to advance to the title game against Hamilton.