Trailing by five with under two minutes left in a state quarterfinal game, Catalina Foothills senior quarterback Rhett Rodriguez stayed calm and delivered a 60-yard strike to get the Falcons in scoring position.

Two plays later, Rodriguez found pay dirt to take a lead as cheers erupted from the visiting bleachers after Rodriguez’s 2-yard run. A solemn grumble was uttered by some Sunrise Mountain fans, with their season in jeopardy.

Sunrise Mountain desperately tried to claw its way back with just over a minute left. Mustangs’ quarterback Chase Cord completed a beautiful pass to move the chains during this team’s final drive, but the Falcons’ defense was too much, stifling Sunrise Mountain’s attempts en route to a wild 52-49 victory.

“It was a storybook ending,” Catalina Foothills head coach Jeff Scurran said. “That’s why we do all the work. This was as good of a feeling win as I’ve ever had.”

When asked about the deep pass Catalina Foothills completed in its final drive, Sunrise Mountain head coach Steve Decker said that Falcons’ wide receiver Bryan Beckon just got behind his defense.

“You know, they’re kids and they played hard,” Decker said. “They’re battling and trying to do what they can do, and sometimes things happen.”

At the halfway point Thursday, the Mustangs limped into the locker room down by 10.

When they came back out, there didn’t seem to be much life either. The Falcons meanwhile executed 13 straight plays for a gain to open the third quarter, ending with a Rodriguez run in the end zone.

But the Mustangs flipped the script and rallied from a 31-14 deficit with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. The Mustangs went on a 21-0 run, started by a 10-yard pass that floated to Zack Pells from Cord, narrowly missing the fingers of a Falcons defender.

Pells managed to find a few gaps that led to the touchdown that got the crowd riled up.

The Mustang defense held Rodriguez and the Falcons to a three-and-out on the next series and blocked a punt that would later lead to another score for the Mustangs, putting them on top, 35-31. From there both teams started to trade blows, matching touchdown for touchdown until what seemed like the nail in the coffin for the Falcons.

The Mustangs’ Jacob Moore picked Rodriguez off and took it to the opposing 22-yard-line, where senior running back Garett Veldhuizen shed a tackle and made his way to the end zone to put Sunrise Mountain up 49-38.

Undeterred, the Falcon’s battled back to eventually win the game and make it to the semifinals for the first time in the program’s history.

“It’s an incredible feeling, and I hope this season never ends,” Rodriguez said.

The Falcons will have a tough test next week, when they take on the Higley Knights at Williams Field High School in a 4A Conference semifinal game game.