The Casteel Colts and Chandler Wolves finally squared off at Joel Wirth Stadium Saturday afternoon, where the Colts suffered their first home loss, 40-21.

Chandler and Casteel were slated to play Friday evening. However, the game was postponed due to inclement weather.

It was the first 6A Premier Region game of the season for both in this 3 p.m. battle of unbeatens. The Wolves jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

Senior running back Ca’lil Valentine scored on the very first play from scrimmage, taking a handoff up the middle before bouncing it outside for an 80-yard house call. Valentine went on to score two more touchdowns in the first half, when junior teammate Dylan Raiola threw two touchdowns.

The first one connected on a slant to senior receiver Tyreeq-Styles Obichere in the first quarter. Later in the second quarter, Railoa found junior receiver Jaxon Branch running down the sideline for a touchdown.

The Colts couldn’t create any offensive rhythm for the first two quarters of football and trailed the Wolves 34-0 at halftime.

At the start of the third quarter, Jaxon Branch broke open on a post route and ran in for six points to extend Chandler’s lead to 40-0. But the Colts finally began to play more inspired football in the third quarter, when the defense created its first turnover.

Junior defensive back J.J. Newcombe intercepted a Railoa pass to set up the Colts’ offense near midfield. The offense, led by senior quarterback Landon Jury, then put together Casteel’s first touchdown drive with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Jury capped off the drive with a rushing touchdown to start building some momentum. With the offense still in synch, the Colts scored again in their opening fourth quarter drive.

Jury found junior receiver Colin Wesloski over the middle for a touchdown. But before the extra point was kicked, with 8:24 remaining in the fourth quarter, the referees stopped the game due to nearby lightning.

The delay lasted over an hour. It’s been that type of year so far in Arizona high school football.

When the game resumed at 6:30 p.m., with the rain pouring down at Joel Wirth Stadium, the Colts kicked their extra point, making the score 40-14. On the Wolves' next offensive possession, Raiola fumbled the ball on a pass attempt.

The Colts defense jumped on the wet football, setting up Casteel’s offense with great field position. Jury then hit sophomore Zeke Rodriguez on a short throw, leading to another touchdown after Rodriguez evaded defenders.

The score was now 40-21.

After a failed onside kick recovery by Casteel, the Wolves offense took over with 1:21 left in the game. Instead of conceding defeat, the Colts continued to call timeouts.

The Chandler sideline expressed frustration, yelling at Casteel to 'quit calling timeouts.' The Casteel sideline replied with ‘We don’t quit.’

“It was tough,” Jury said. “They kind of came out and punched us in the mouth, but we didn’t stop fighting until the final whistle. We came back and scored 21 points in the second half, so that’s a positive.”

The clock eventually struck zero, but the Colts outscored the Wolves 21-6 in the second half.

“With the Casteel Colts, it’s how we play about finishing, finishing games” Casteel head coach Robert Newcombe said. “It was a great opportunity tonight to compete with Chandler. I thought our guys finished the game well.”

During the postgame handshake line, some words were exchanged between Chandler and Casteel players and coaches.

The handshakes abruptly ended as both teams were instructed to clear the field and go their separate ways. Chandler players and coaches declined interviews after the match.

The Casteel Colts and Chandler Wolves are off this week.

They will cool off during their bye weeks.