Dylan Kane is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Gilbert Christian for AZPreps365.com

TEMPE— Gilbert Christian senior quarterback Tyler Burr threw for six touchdowns and 362 yards, guiding the Knights to a crucial 49-26 victory over Tempe in their final regular season game Friday night.

With the win, Gilbert Christian improved to 6-4 (3-1) and moved up to No. 14 in AIA’s 3A rankings. They are set to play against No. 3 Thatcher (8-2, 3-1) in round one of the state tournament next Friday at Eastern Arizona College.

The top 16 teams in the 3A division qualify for the state tournament. Gilbert Christian, ranked No. 15 heading into the game, needed a win Friday night to maintain its spot in the tournament bracket.

“The whole week we were thinking about this game as a playoff game,” senior running back Sam Webb said. “We knew that no matter what, we had to win this game.” 

Things didn’t start off as planned for Gilbert Christian as Tempe senior Sa'veon McCrimon returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to give the Buffaloes a 6-0 lead.

The Knights responded immediately, going on a six-play, 69-yard drive that culminated in a Burr 20-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Bennett Juve. An extra point put the Knights ahead, 7-6.

They never relinquished the lead.

“They demonstrated their toughness and resilience,” coach John Carlson said. “I wasn’t surprised that we bounced back (after the kick return touchdown).”

The big plays continued for Gilbert Christian in the first half, as Burr connected with Webb on a screen pass for a 48-yard touchdown, and then threw a 61-yard bomb to junior wide receiver Caleb Ely to extend their lead to 20-6. 

Tempe kept it close after McCrimon tallied his second touchdown of the night via a pass from junior quarterback Saul Mendez, but Juve’s second touchdown made it a 28-14 game going into halftime.

Another Burr-to-Ely touchdown, followed by Webb’s 15th rushing touchdown of the season, put Gilbert Christian up 42-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

However, Tempe scored a touchdown in less than two minutes, and then quickly recovered a fumble on the next possession to put themselves in great position to orchestrate a comeback.

Four plays later, the Buffaloes found themselves on first-and-goal at Gilbert Christian’s 6-yard line. Gilbert Christian’s defense responded with a clutch goal-line stand that ended any threat of a Tempe comeback, effectively ending the game.

“We came out ready to fire offensively,” Burr said. “Our line has been doing great. They held up awesomely tonight.”

Burr’s six touchdowns were the most in a game for him this season. Webb, Juve and Ely received two of those touchdowns each.

The screen pass was particularly effective against the Tempe defense.

“We noticed they were blitzing a lot, so we just decided to keep doing that,” Webb said. “They didn’t stop it, so we kept scoring touchdowns on it.”

“We’ve been working on it a lot lately,” Burr said. “We probably implemented it a few weeks ago and have been using it a lot.”

Gilbert Christian will be playing playoff football for the fourth season in a row.

“It’s awesome to be in a playoff atmosphere,” Burr said. “You have to understand that any game can be your last game, so you really have to leave everything on the field.”