Phoenix Christian rushed for more than 300 yards in a 26-13 win at Tanque Verde Friday night but the game was still in doubt until the Cougars literally ran out the last 7:59 of the game after the Hawks scored on a 21-yard pass from Rocco Haggard to Jacob Dickens a few seconds earlier.

Phoenix Christian was a powerhouse with six state championships between 1984 and 2004 and a runner-up finish 2008, and another in 2019, but the program shifted from the 2A level to the 3A in 2020 where the program hit bottom with a 1-9 record in 2022. That’s when Jason Kindred stepped in to take the program over at the same moment the school was placed back in the 2A ranks. The former Maryvale standout led the Cougars to an 8-3 record last year with a playoff berth.

“We've come a long ways in a year. We're really young,” Kindred said. “You know, we have three seniors starting completely on both sides. We have one on defense and two on offense. So we're really young. We have three freshmen playing tonight, valuable minutes. So we're excited about where we're at.”

Likewise, Tanque Verde went from an 8-man program to a 3A Conference placement in a matter of a few years due to increasing enrollment. The team only won eight games in four years and the program suffered a 15-game losing streak that was snapped in 2020 when the school moved down to the 2A level in conjunction with the hiring of legendary Arizona receiver Jay Dobyns. Dobyns brought the program to instant success and his final year in 2022 produced a playoff spot.

Former Mountain View Marana standout Jeffrey Bollnow kept the winning culture going after he replaced Dobyns and the Hawks went 9-3 with a playoff win and, despite the loss to Phoenix Christian, Bollnow sees many positives.

“Incredibly proud of them,” Bollnow said. “Because it takes some guts to go out there and play that type of football game. It's very physical. That was a great team. They're going to do really well this year. You know, I'm excited to see how we bounce back from this, we do have a bye week so we can kind of get things reorganized and take these lessons to heart and hopefully learn and move forward.”

The game started out on a positive note for Tanque Verde with a fumble recovery that set the Hawks up at the 32 and Rocco Haggard hit Jacob Dickes from 17 yards out four plays later to put Tanque Verde up 7-0 with 8:21 left in the first quarter.

Phoenix Christian started to move the ball and the Cougars marched 72 yards in 17 plays to cut the lead down to 7-6 with a missed two-point conversion with only 18 second left in the first. The time-consuming drive was a sign of what was to come.

Tanque Verde gave up the ball on downs and Phoenix Christian took advantage with sophomore Gio Young running the ball in from five yards out to put the Cougars 12-7 with 6:23 left in the half. This was Young’s first game as a football player and Kindred’s efforts to get him on the gridiron paid off.

What proved to be the turning point came next with the Cougars converting an onsides kick, which kept Tanque Verde’s offense off the field for a few minutes. The Hawk defense forced a turnover on downs with 2:29 left in the half but two penalties changed the game plan for the Hawks. In an attempt to run out the clock, a fumble gave the ball back to Phoenix Christian with 25.5 seconds left and Young ran the ball in from seven yards out to give the Cougars an 18-7 lead.

“We just needed a good break and then it seemed like we shot ourselves in the foot,” Bollnow added. “You know, the football is a funny shape. It bounces in many different ways, this is how it goes.”

To make things more difficult, Michael Harmon came up with an interception to put the Cougars back in position to score at the 12 with seven seconds left but a sack ended the first half.

Tanque Verde drove deep to start the third but the team gave up the ball on downs at the 19, but Haggard came up with an interception with 4:07 left in the third to give the Hawks the ball back. That drive also stalled on downs which led to another Young scoring run to put Phoenix Christian up 26-7 with Reuben Guererro hitting Kevin Palafox on a two-point conversion with 9:05 left in the game.

The Hawks only needed a minute to score with Haggard finding Dickens from 21 yards out to cut the lead down to 26-13 with eight minutes left but the Cougars the game out the rest of the way.

Z'Yeon Rondan rushed 11 times for 87 yards and a TD, Palafox rushed 14 times for 82 yards, Young rushed 10 times for 72 yards and three touchdowns and Trey Ransom rushed 21 times for 68 yards. For Tanque Verde Nixon Hills had 46 yards rushing, Haggard went 4 for 9 for 79 yards and two TDs and Dickens had 62 yards receiving.

“The kids are just working hard,” Kindred added. “They're buying into what we're trying to do, and they're starting to care about each other so that their accountability is great, man, we're excited, really excited.”

Phoenix Christian (1-0) travels to Benson (1-0) next Friday and Tanque Verde (0-1) has a bye before hosting Glendale Prep a week later.