Top-seeded Marana scored on the first play from scrimmage, but No. 8 Hamilton came back from a 16-10 halftime deficit to beat the Tigers 31-22 in the opening round of the Open Division Friday night at Marana.

Colten Meyer hit Sean Roebuck for 77 yards to put Marana up 7-0 on Hamilton 14 seconds into the game. The completion moved Meyer past the 5,000 career passing mark but it also electrified the crowd and it gave an early sign that the Tigers belonged in the playoff conversation.

Marana finished the regular season with a perfect 10-0 record in the 5A Conference and it was the first perfect season for the Tigers since the 1968 state championship team went 11-0 but that was some 56 years ago under a different playoff system. The Open Division was introduced in 2019 after Chandler (D-I), Centennial (D-II) and Saguaro (D-III) had a firm grip on state championships from 2014 on. This year, the top eight ranked teams from 5A and 6A populated the Open Division playoff field with the 4A Conference opting out of the formula.

Marana finished ranked No. 1 and Hamilton came in ranked No. 8 with a 9-1 record in the regular season. The Huskies play in the 6A Conference with the loss on their record coming at Basha on Oct. 11. Basha (10-1) is ranked No. 2 in the Open Division and the Bears took out No. 7 Horizon 36-14 in their opening game of the state playoffs.

Hamilton took second place in the Open Division in 2020 and the team lost to eventual state champion Liberty 39-27 in the opening round last year ranked No. 8. The Huskies have seven state championships with the last coming in 2012. All four 5A teams in the Open Division lost Friday night which means Hamilton will face No. 4 Liberty (10-1) in the semifinal round next week and Basha will play No. 3 ALA-Queen Creek (10-1) in the other semifinal.

Down 7-0 to Marana, the Huskies cut the lead down to 7-3 on a 38-yard field goal with 9:59 left in the first quarter and the Hamilton defense came up big on a fourth down stop at their own four with 4:59 left.

The Tigers went up 10-3 with a 33-yard field goal with 10:11 left in the half but Jacob Brown scored from one yard out to tie the game up at 10-10 with 6:32 left. The Tigers responded with a 95-yrd scoring drive with Jeffrey Smith punching the ball in from two yards out to put the team up 16-10 on a missed extra point with 1:23 left in the half.

The Huskies took the opening drive of the second half the distance with Rich Lucero finding Roye Oliver from 40 yards out to put Hamilton up 17-16 with 9:36 left in the third. After a series of punts, Reiss Rinaldi put Hamilton up 24-16 on a 17-yard pass reception with 5:18 on the clock but Marana went on an 85-yard drive to cut the lead down to 24-22 on a missed two-point conversion after Meyer hit Dezmen Roebuck from 27 yards out with 51 seconds left.

Lucero scored on a 16-yard pass to Oliver from 16 yards out to put the Huskies up for good at 31-22 with 10 minutes left. Marana gave up the ball on downs at the Hamilton 23 with 6:16 left and the Tigers had one more chance but Beau Jandreau came up with an interception with 2:18 left to seal the victory.

Meyer finished with an unofficial 349 yards passing with Dezmen Roebuck pulling in 136 yards, Sean Roebuck had 91 and Dominic Cillitto had 68. Lucero passed for 180 yards, Oliver had 119 yards receiving and Brown had 194 yards rushing.

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