David Rodriguez inherited a promising program that slowly fell from a 3A semifinal appearance in 2004 to an 0-10 season in 2010. In short, Sahuarita was not a destination job. No one could win there.

Rodriguez knew the difficulties of coaching in places where winning was not a tradition, having coached at Tucson Desert View and Tucson Pueblo, but he is also a coach who believes in his players and he found a community where the players believed in him.

Sometimes that's all it takes.

The Mustangs won seven games in his first season and then went on an 11-game win streak that carried over from their last game in 2011 through the 2012 season, resulting in a 10-1 record and a playoff spot in their old Division III placement.

The construction of Sahuarita Walden Grove helped force a move down to D-IV and that shift proved to be more appropriate for a school that is still the focus of their community as all "small-town" schools are.

Everything came together for the Mustangs this fall and the team won an incredible 12 games in a row until they met up with Mohave Valley River Valley in the D-IV semifinals Saturday night.

On the other side, River Valley is seen by its players as an "underdog" no matter who they play even though they reached the championship game last year only to fall to Lakeside Blue Ridge 17-7.

"It seems no matter who we play the paper never gives us a chance," explained senior quarterback Brady Viles. "We never get the recognition we probably deserve."

The Dust Devils have lost only once this year and that was a 43-34 setback at Division V power Yuma Catholic. Yuma Catholic is 13-0 and will be playing for a state championship next Saturday.

Recognition or not, River Valley has quietly built a 12-1 record under co-head coaches Mark Ruckle and Paul Duchaineau. Ruckle and Duchaineau replaced Terry Staggs after he resigned in April.

It's hard to imagine a team that has now won 12 games two seasons in a row can be overlooked but motivation can come in many forms and the Dust Devils had plenty of it building up during their seven-hour bus ride to Marana High School that covered two days of travel to reach the semifinal game where they were definitely not favored…again.

River Valley came in ranked No. 3 and Sahuarita was No. 2. The Dust Devils had a quarterback with over 1,400 yards passing and a running back with almost 2,000 yards rushing and almost 500 yards receiving.  RB Brandon Long is the real deal.

The Mustangs also had a force in senior QB Calvin Jenkins with over 1,700 yards passing and over 700 yards rushing. Jenkins, along with senior back Geovan Neuser and his 1,100 yards rushing, is hard to prepare for.

Sahuarita opened up with a 13-0 lead with Jenkins hitting junior Allyn Williams on an 80-yd pass on the first play from scrimmage followed by a 92-yard drive capped off by Neuser. The Mustangs had missed on the first extra point and then failed on a 2-point attempt after Neuser's score.

River Valley was on their heels but they responded on a five-play scoring drive with Viles hitting senior tight end David Sanchez from 29 yards out to cut the lead down to 12-7.

The Mustangs were forced to punt and Viles engineered another drive that he finished off with a 20-yard run to take a 13-12 lead with the extra point being blocked.

Momentum shifted and River Valley got the ball back and Viles broke through for a 60-dash to put River Valley up 21-12 with a 2-point conversion being successful.

"We never quit," said Long. "We have heart and we knew we could respond. That's who we are."

But Jenkins came alive again and he found Williams for another score, this one going for 44 yards, to make the score 21-19 with 3:49 left in the half.

River Valley punted and Sahuarita got the ball back with 1:46 left at midfield. Jenkins would cash in on the opportunity with a 24-yard strike to David Serrano to put the Mustangs up 26-21 with 32.6 seconds left.

Rodriguez believes in the notion that games are decided by a handful of plays but you never know which ones till the game is over. Viles may have collected two of those over the last 30 seconds of the first half to shock Sahuarita.

First, Viles found Danny Jones behind the Sahuarita defense for 45 yards and he followed that up with an 18-yard touchdown pass to a outstretched Long at the goal line with .02 seconds left. Viles ran in the 2-point conversion and River Valley went into the locker room up 29-26.

River Valley practically begged Sahuarita to take control in the third quarter after fumbling and giving up the ball on downs but an intentionally grounding play and a punt left the Dust Devils unharmed.

Long would score again three minutes left in the third to put River Valley up 36-26. River Valley fumbled to start the fourth quarter and this time Sahuarita cashed in after Jenkins erased a fourth-and-10 with a 17-yard run and Neuser capped off the drive with another score to make it 36-33 with 10:55 left in the game.

Another play that could have turned the tide was avoided after Viles broke free from a sack on third down deep in his own territory only to pick up 21 yards on a pass. The drive would later stall on downs at Sahuarita's 7-yard line with 4:23 left in the game.

Brent Vegas stepped in front of a Jenkins offering with 2:04 left to seemingly put an end to the game but River Valley was forced to punt with 1:06 left. Sahuarita had one more shot but the River Valley defense held take the win 36-33.

"We are going to take a day before we look at things," said Rodriguez. "But we will celebrate this because there is so much to celebrate for our community. These guys played their guts out and coaches take too much credit for wins. This loss is on me, not on my players."

Ruckle gathered his team and told them, "I told you we had a plan and if we stuck to it we would win the game. We did it against all odds and what do we have now? State title baby, that's we got."

Ruckle also reminded his team that they will be the home team because No. 4 Snowflake upset No. 1 Chandler Seton Catholic 33-20 in the other semifinal game but Long and Viles would have none of that.

"We play together as a team," said Viles. "We have to make another long drive."

"We are still going to play this game as the underdogs," added Long. "Until we win it."

River Valley will play Snowflake next Saturday at Phoenix North Canyon High School for the D-IV state championship. The game will start at 6 pm and will be shown live on the NFHSNetwork.

Snowflake will be going for its seventh title but first since 1993.

Jenkins finished with 302 yards passing with Williams pulling down 144 of those. The Mustangs only gained 64 yards rushing. Viles only had 136 yards passing but he rushed for 134 more and Long rushed for 178.