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

With the Falcons leading 23-13 with 1:21 left to play in the 4th quarter, they needed their defense to come up big on fourth-and-10. Sophomore safety Baylor Arnold sealed the game, deflecting a pass from Spartans junior quarterback Judah Mizysak that was intended for sophomore wide receiver Will Ryken to force a turnover on downs. 

It was a big victory for Veritas Prep, having lost to the Spartans in their last five meetings. 

Ryken was a problem for the Falcons defense for most of the game as he managed to get open multiple times even against tight coverage. He caught seven of his 17 targets for 113 yards, with most of it coming from a 48-yard heave from Mizysak late in the third quarter. 

“Yeah, 14 (Ryken) kept getting open in the second half,” Veritas Prep safety Christian Dominguez said. “But we were able to adjust and pick it up.”

For the Falcons offense, it was a bit of a struggle to get things going early. Sophomore running back Tico Lentz had the lone score of the first half as he caught a bobbled pass for an 18-yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 6-0 lead with 8:23 in the 2nd quarter. 

“People know what we do and what we like to do,” Veritas Prep coach Jason Black said. “We have to break tendencies a couple of times. We gotta be better about our play calls and how we attack things.”

Mizysak then led the Spartans on back-to-back scoring drives, running for 13 and 17-yard touchdowns to give the Spartans a 13-9 lead. He completed 16 of his 27 passes for 164 yards and rushed for 35 yards and two touchdowns. 

Trailing 13-9 coming out of halftime, Veritas Prep made key adjustments with the defense forcing Scottsdale Prep to be more reliant on the passing game. The Spartans ran the ball five times in the second half compared to 10 in the first half. 

“We would have loved to run the ball, but they really were clean at guard,” Scottsdale Prep coach David Primavera said. “Closing up all our gaps within our inside zone, we just couldn't get the ball moving on the ground. We thought our best opportunities were in the air. And honestly, we really liked our matchups in the air and it just didn't work out for us.”

The Veritas offense came alive in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Senior running back Max Kaminski got the Falcons rolling with consecutive carries for 23 and five yards. Kaminski had 141 yards and one touchdown in the game. 

“Even when you know the run is coming, you still have to be able to stop it,” Black said. “And fortunately they weren't able to near the end of the game.”

On the next play a 32-yard touchdown run by Lentz was nullified due to a holding penalty. The game was then paused when a Spartans player went down after taking a hard hit with 8:37 left to play. 

Play did not resume for 20 minutes as he had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Trainers from both teams said he had full movement and feeling in his extremities.

Once play resumed Kaminski carried the ball for an 8-yard gain. This set up sophomore quarterback John Weiland's 23-yard touchdown throw to freshman tight end Miles Perry to give the Falcons a 16-13 lead with 7:45 left. Weiland completed five of 15 passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns. 

The Falcons defense then forced the Spartans to punt on the next drive with 7:22 left on the clock. This allowed the offense to get more points on the board and shave some time off the clock as Kaminksi ran for a 4-yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 23-13 lead. 

Veritas Prep (5-1, 3-0) will host Scottsdale Christian Academy (3-2, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday.
Scottsdale Prep (4-2, 1-2) plays at home against Chandler Prep (5-1, 2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.