DIVISION II

Section I

Sunnyside (6-3, 3-1)

Tucson (6-3, 2-2)

Salpointe (5-4, 3-1)

Sahuaro (4-5, 2-2)

Section III

Queen Creek (7-2, 3-0)

Ironwood Ridge (7-2, 3-1)

Mountain View (6-3, 1-2)

Salpointe was 2-4 at one point. A lot of experts offered to perform last rites for the Lancers, forgetting the first avenue to the playoffs comes through a section championship and the second option involves power points.

Only one of the four losses was a section loss (Sunnyside) and two of the other losses were to No. 1 Mesa Skyline and No. 5 Ironwood Ridge. In the world of power point calculations, those are all considered "good losses."

So, heading into their homecoming game against Tucson Friday night, the Lancers were more than alive with two games left in the regular season. The section title was still up for grabs and they came in ranked No. 17, just one spot away from an at-large playoff berth.

Salpointe needed two things to happen. The Lancers needed to beat Tucson and Sahuaro needed to defeat Sunnyside. They got both.

Salpointe outlasted Tucson 38-24 and Sahuaro upset Sunnyside 17-14.

The game started out slowly with Salpointe taking a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and Tucson tied it up one minute into the second. Then the fireworks started.

Dominic Salaz finished the game with 215 yards rushing and three touchdowns but a good chunk of that came with 10:15 left in the first half on a 55-yard dash to put Salpointe up 10-3. Jorge Flores responded with a 23-yard strike to DeAndre Williams with 7:17 left in the half.

Tucson was driving late in the second quarter but Justin Holt came up with a huge 9-yard sack to help put an end to the threat. The defensive play turned out to be big for the Lancers but the University of Arizona commit was not finished.

"I wanted to get something started," Holt explained. "I wanted to make a play that my team could capitalize on. We needed something."

The game turned into a scoring frenzy in the second half and defensive stops became a rarity but Holt came up big again with 5:10 left in the game. Down 38-24, Tucson was driving again but Holt delivered on a 10-yard sack on a short fourth-down play to force a turnover. Game over.

"We are all on the same page now and coach (Dennis) Bene never gave up on us," Holt added. "We turned the program around and we are almost where we need to be,"

Holt wasn't told about Sunnyside losing to Sahuaro until after the game. He, like the rest of the Salpointe faithful, cheered loudly when it was announced over the loud speaker.

But Tucson is still alive.

Flores finished with 194 yards passing with two touchdowns and Daquavin Bennett collected 87 of those and Tyree Pierson was responsible for 82 more. Williams gained 95 yards on the ground. In all, the Badgers gained 400 yards on offense.

400 yards and 24 points is more than enough to defeat a lot of teams. But, as head coach Justin Argraves pointed out to his team after the loss, the smallest of things can hold a team back.

"I hate losing just as much as anyone else but if we fix the small things then we will get better," Argraves said. "We need to take care of business next week. We will get better. We will improve."

One of the "small things" includes at least five dropped passes with a few of those of the potentially game-changing variety. Flores could have easily finished with almost 300 yards passing.

But Argraves is a players-coach first and he correctly pointed out to his team that they are one.

"There will be no finger pointing," he added. "We came in as a team. We are going to the locker room as a team. We will get on the bus as a team."

For Salpointe, the passing defense has been a concern all season but the Lancer offense was able to offset the difficulties on a night when they needed it the most.

Sean Barton is essentially the fourth string quarterback but that is meaningless when your head coach was one of the best QBs your school has ever had. Bene came down from the booth to personally work with Barton in the second half and it worked like a charm.

Barton finished with 91 yards passing but it was his 100 yards on the ground that was impressive. His rushing performance conjured up memories of former Salpointe QB Andy Cota. Cota rushed for 657 yards in addition to his 2,748 yards passing to help lead the Lancers to their only state championship in 2013.

The total result against Tucson was 534 yards of offense for Salpointe.

These are the playoff scenarios:

Sunnyside: Should make the playoffs regardless due to power points but the Blue Devils still control their own destiny and will win their section if they defeat Tucson next Friday.

Tucson: The Badgers need to beat Sunnyside to remain in the running for an at-large berth. If Cienega beats Salpointe then the section title will be based on division record.

Salpointe: If the Lancers beat Cienega and Tucson defeats Sunnyside then they will be section champs. Beating Cienega may keep the Lancers in the top 16.

Sahuaro: The Cougars have to wait until Tuesday to see where they are ranked heading into their final game at 0-9 Buena. Does not look good.

Ironwood Ridge: The Nighthawks are in but Mountain View losing to Canyon del Oro will hurt their chances of getting into the top four.

Mountain View: Like Sahuaro, the Mountain Lions will be looking at the rankings on Tuesday to see how far they fell. Their game at home against Ironwood Ridge becomes a playoff game.