PAYSON — It’s been nearly a decade since the Payson football program has started a season 3-0, but after Friday night’s victory they’ve put not only the 3A East on notice, but the rest of the state.

Payson is for real.

Do-everything back Keaton Potter had three scores, Marco Gureque caught two touchdown passes and the Longhorns scored 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to put away Page on a steamy Friday night, 49-24.

Payson was last 3-0 in 2015.

Potter, who had a rushing, receiving and kick return for a touchdown, said Payson (3-0, 0-0 3A East) gave a good effort despite things getting a little rocky in the third quarter.

“We emptied our gas tanks a little bit and got slow, but the fourth quarter came, and we pushed them with everything we have. We showed them who we are,” Potter said. “Other teams are strong, but I think we’re stronger.”

Potter opened the game’s scoring with a 33-yard touchdown run. But after watching Page quarterback Joseph Benally throw a score to Tyree Stingley on a 30-yard strike to take an 8-7 lead with 5:43 to go in the first quarter, he answered with a 70-plus yard kickoff return for a touchdown and the Longhorns never trailed again.

“We knew what Keaton was going to do this season. … He’s a special player, a dynamic player. We try to get the ball in his hands early and often,” Payson head coach Bryan Burke said. “He really does it all.”

Quarterback Nolan Keeney’s second touchdown pass of the night went to Potter on a 50-yard strike, giving Payson a 27-8 lead with 7:34 to go in the first half.

But in the third quarter, Landon Mansker single-handedly got Page (2-1, 0-0 3A North) back in the game, scoring on back-to-back offensive drives, the first a 7-yard touchdown run and the second a 6-yard score to bring the Sand Devils within a field goal, 27-24 with 1:46 to play in the third quarter.

“We knew who Page was coming in here. They run an up-tempo, high-energy offense. They were leading 3A in passing, leading 3A in offensive yards total, so we knew what we had going for us,” Burke said. “We were a little banged up coming in so we had to get a little creative with some of our adjustments on personal. We take a lot of pride finishing games and playing well in the fourth quarter.”

That they did, scoring 22-unanswered points, including two touchdown catches from Gureque, the latter to give the Longhorns the lead for good at 49-27 with 7:33 left in the game.

It was Keeney’s third touchdown pass of the night to go with his rushing score in the first half.

“We weren’t worried at all,” Gureque said about Page cutting it to three in the second half. “We always have that mentality to finish strong, we’re a fourth quarter team. We just pushed through it. We were tired at the end, I’m proud of my brothers, they brought the juice.”

Burke praised Page for putting up a second-half fight.

Payson coach Bryan Burke, left, speaks with an assistant coach prior to kickoff against Page on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, in Payson. Burke has led the Longhorns for seven seasons and is an alum of Payson. (Brian M. Bergner Jr./AzPreps365.com)

“They made it close, and we had a hell of a fourth quarter after some adjustments we had to answer to,” Burke said, adding later, “This is a weird game, we went into halftime up 27-8 and I told our coaches, ‘I feel like we’re down right now, an energy thing.’ They [Page] came out and had some energy, and we made adjustments on how they were throwing the ball … we were playing a little cat and mouse to see how they were going to play it … they decided to run it down our throat.”

Burke believes his Payson squad will make a run at the 3A East region title this fall.

As for state, the Longhorns haven’t won a state playoff game since a 7-6 victory over Snowflake in 2016, but perhaps this 2024 club will get over that hump.

“Our goal this year is to win a region title, 100 percent. I’m alumni here, I grew up here, I’ve been around 3A East football for a long time. Traditionally, you win the 3A East, you’re in the conversation,” Burke said. “That’s our goal and we’ll continue to take it one game at a time.”

UP NEXT

Payson hosts Coconino (0-1, 0-0 4A Grand Canyon) on Friday, Sept. 13. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.

Page heads into a bye week and will play Monument Valley at home on Friday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on X at @AzPreps365Brian or on Facebook at @Five2MediaWorks. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.