Patrick Holleron is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Veritas Prep High School for AZPreps365.com 

 

Veritas Prep running back Max Kaminski had the game of his life on Thursday. 

Facing second-and-10 with 7:42 left in the 4th quarter, the Falcons needed someone to make a big play to help maintain their 28-21 lead. Kaminski stepped up and delivered, racing down the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown run to make it a two-possession game.

Kaminski, a senior, was the engine of Veritas’ offense all night, rushing for 212 yards and three touchdowns. In the first half Kaminski accumulated 113 of his 212 yards and scored two touchdowns as the Falcons built a 21-14 lead going into halftime.

“That was a senior captain that just said, you know what, we're not losing this game,” Veritas Prep coach Jason Black said. “He took it on his shoulders to get it done.”

Near the end of the third quarter, with 1:14 left, a controversial call by the refs shifted the momentum as Shadow Mountain trailed 28-14. On fourth-and-11 at the Matadors’ 41, Veritas senior defensive end Jared Barrett deflected a pass from Matadors senior quarterback Joey Meyn. 

This play was initially ruled as a forward pass by an official as he whistled the play dead. However, another official allowed the play to continue with Matadors junior running back Tavares Allen recovering the ball and taking it to the Falcons’ 30-yard line for a 29-yard gain. After the play the officials got together and ultimately ruled it as a backwards pass. 

“Oh, it was a backward pass. We looked at it on film as a backward pass,” Shadow Mountain coach Ron Fagan said. “We've lost that fumble before, so we all knew. Because the running back, he's behind the quarterback and he flares away, so it wasn't a forward pass.”

The call kept the Matadors in the game, as they drove down the field and Allen walked into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown to make it 28-21. Falcons players and coaches were stunned by the decision due to lack of clarity on why it was ruled a backwards pass. 

“The ball bounces weird sometimes and it doesn't go your way,” Black said. “It would have been nice to get a better explanation than, oops, I guess nobody just has it, but I mean, that's the only explanation we got.”

The Falcons struggled on defense in the first half, but made up for it with key plays down the stretch. With Shadow Mountain deep inside Falcons territory late in the 4th quarter, junior safety Christian Dominguez intercepted Meyn to help set up junior running back Tico Lentz for a 12-yard touchdown to make it 42-27 and put away the game with 2:33 left. 

“We made some adjustments, put the players in better positions where they could be successful and that’s what we saw in the second half,” Black said. “They stepped up, being called upon a little bit, asked them to get a little bit better and they did it.”

Lentz was able to give the offense production when called upon, with 100 yards rushing and one touchdown. 

The Falcons' passing game was dormant for most of the game as sophomore quarterback John Weiland completed 2 of 11 passes for 53 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Weiland's two completions were Veritas' only other scoring plays. 

The main thing that hurt the defense was missed and broken tackles. Shadow Mountain was able to use this to their advantage, with senior wide receiver Mateo Hernandez eluding multiple defenders on his way for a 72-yard touchdown to make it 35-27 with 6:34 left. 

“One hundred percent tackling,” Kaminski said.” “We had an unnecessary number of broken tackles and missed tackles. They made two massive runs that I just, I don't know why they happened.”

Veritas Prep (4-1, 2-0) will host Scottsdale Prep (4-0, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday.

Shadow Mountain (0-4, 0-1) hosts Madison Highland Prep (2-2, 0-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.