Jordy Fee-Platt is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Cactus High School for AZPreps365.com

Those in attendance for Thursday’s 5A Desert West football matchup between Cactus and Millennium were treated to a thriller.

Cactus prevailed 27-20 in dramatic fashion on Senior Night, as wide receiver Nikko Boncore scored a game-winning 28-yard touchdown with 16 seconds left.

The Cobras overcame tremendous adversity to escape with the victory. They committed 15 penalties, with all of those coming on offense or special teams. 

Cactus had no problems on its first series of the game. After a 36-yard kickoff return by Polo Banuelos, running back Damian Jiles scored a 34-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to give his a team 7-0 lead.

From there, the penalty issues began to mount. An exasperated crowd expressed its frustration as big play after big play was called back. At one point, two Cactus touchdowns were waved off within the span of three plays.

Fixing this problem is the number one priority for Coach Brian Belles going forward.

“We gotta get more disciplined,” he said. “I mean, the penalties are ridiculous, so we got to evaluate that.”

Millennium took advantage of its opponent’s offensive woes, scoring two touchdowns to take a 12-7 lead in the second quarter. 

Nonetheless, the Cactus defense kept its team in the game. Minus two blown coverages that led to touchdowns, the unit was nearly flawless. After going ahead 12-7, the Tigers began four drives in Cactus territory, and came away with only eight points the rest of the game. 

Belles was happy with the performance of his defense, particularly on how they limited Tigers' running back Zues Pindernation to 76 yards on 19 carries. 

“I think we played well defensively. For the most part, their offense runs through number 2, and I thought we did a great job on him tonight.” 

The Cobras offense finally took some pressure off the defense in their first series of the second half. Banuelos again set the table beautifully with a 59-yard return to the Millennium 30. This eventually turned into a Will Galvan 13-yard TD run, putting Cactus back in front 13-12. 

It looked multiple times as if Cactus would be able to pull away, but penalties repeatedly stalled its movements. Then, in the fourth quarter, after a methodical drive, Cactus rolled the dice on 4th-and-goal from the 3. 

The gamble paid off, as Jiles just barely turned the corner down the right sideline and reached his arms across the pylon, giving Cactus a 20-12 lead with 8:04 left. 

This sealed an outstanding day for Jiles, who rushed for 105 yards and 2 TDs on 12 carries. It also appeared to be the nail in the coffin for Millennium, who had not scored since the first half. 

However, this game had another twist. The Tigers quickly marched down the field, capped off by a 33-yard pass from Derek Berry to Gavin Trim. After a successful two point-conversion, all of a sudden, it was 20-20 with 6:14 left. 

Both teams traded punts, and the game appeared to have overtime written all over it. Then, as they have all year, the Cactus defense stepped up again and made a play. On a 3rd-and-2 from the Millennium 30, defensive end Gabriel Rodriguez sacked Berry and stripped the ball, and Jose Mora recovered the ball for Cactus on the Tigers 28. 

Throughout the game, Cactus alternated quarterbacks Braiden Lagafuaina and Rudy Gonzales on every series. They didn’t alter their strategy in crunch time, as Rudy Gonzales stepped onto the field with 22 seconds left. 

On the first play of the possession, Gonzales launched the ball toward the end zone, and a hush fell over the stadium. Boncore leaped over the outstretched hand of the defender, and came down with the ball in traffic to score the go-ahead points and send the crowd into a frenzy. 

It might bother some receivers to change quarterbacks constantly, but Boncore deeply trusts both Lagafuaina and Gonzales, and felt confident on that final drive. 

“I create chemistry with both of them at practice,” Boncore said. “I love both of them equally, they both believe in me and I believe in them.”

The sophomore finished with eight receptions, many of which came with a defender draped all over him, and 170 yards. Boncore was motivated to send his senior teammates out on a high note in their final home game.

“I was just playing for all my seniors,” Boncore said. "I love them so much. All these big plays, I’m making this for them.” 

With the victory, Cactus moves to 5-3, and more importantly, 2-0 in region play. The Cobras will travel to Buckeye next Friday to face Verrado at 7 p.m. Millennium drops to 4-4, 1-1 in region. The Tigers will play Desert Edge on Friday at 7 p.m.