#10 Queen Creek knocks off #8 Gilbert for 10th win of the season

The Queen Creek Bulldogs pulled away with a 21-16 win over the Gilbert Tigers on Tuesday night in a top-10 showdown of 6A flag football. 

The Bulldog momentum started very early.

On their opening drive of the game, Queen Creek had great field position and wasted little time getting points on the board.

Junior quarterback and Oklahoma softball commit Emma Reynolds found junior athlete Alessia Velasquez for a 17-yard touchdown. 

According to Queen Creek head coach Mikel Moreno, Reynolds (younger sister of Clemson tackle football commit Tait Reynolds) only started playing football in August. Yet she seems to already be one of the best in Arizona already. 

“She hasn’t played football until whatever the first day of practice was,” Moreno said. “It’s really neat that she’s out here doing as well as she is. It just shows the competitor she really is.” 

After the statement made by Queen Creek on their first drive, Gilbert struck right back. 

They moved the ball to the middle of the field, and that is when Gilbert junior quarterback Lilah Barton connected with sophomore athlete Jaylin Guerrero for a 45-yard touchdown. 

The game was tied at seven at the end of the first quarter, and in the second quarter, both defenses made crucial stops. 

With less than 2 minutes in the first half, Gilbert forced a turnover on downs and set up their offense near the 50-yard line. 

The Tigers were able to move the ball deep into Queen Creek’s territory; however, Queen Creek was able to get a stop. 

It was Velasquez who made the interception for Queen Creek and kept Gilbert out of the endzone before halftime. 

The Bulldogs opened up the second half with the ball, and they put together the longest drive of the game. 

The 8:44-minute drive was capped off by Queen Creek as Reynolds connected with Velasquez for a second touchdown, this time for 40 yards. 

After getting her second touchdown of the day, on the next drive, Velasquez was able to get her second interception of the game and give Queen Creek the ball back. 

The star player of the night for Queen Creek, Velasquez, describes the way to play is to by simply playing catch. 

“It’s just playing catch,” Velasquez said. “Always playing aggressively, always being the aggressor.” 

Gilbert wasn’t out of the fight yet, though, as on their next two drives, they got points on the board. 

Their second touchdown of the night involved some trickery.

Gilbert ran a double pass play that resulted in their senior athlete, Brylee Gaylord, catching and running for a 47-yard touchdown. 

The Tigers ended up getting the ball back quickly and started to move down the field with the game winding down. 

Gilbert made it all the way down to Queen Creek’s 1-yard line and went for a field goal on 4th and goal. 

They got their first lead of the night as their sophomore kicker Allison Bogle drilled an 18-yard field goal with 1:40 remaining in the game. 

With the game on the line, Queen Creek didn’t surrender. 

In what was the clutchest play of the game, on 4th and 12, Reynolds found sophomore wide receiver Delia Marquez for a 38-yard gain. 

The 4th down conversion set them up at Gilbert’s 14-yard line, and the very next play, Reynolds found sophomore athlete Amaya Rodgers for a 14-yard touchdown. 

The mindset for the game-winning drive for Queen Creek was simply to make a play. 

“Get in the endzone and make a play, that's what our QB said,” Rodgers said. “That’s what we did.” 

After defeating Gilbert, Queen Creek now moves to 10-1 on the season, one win shy of their combined win total the previous two seasons. 

They have one regular-season game left against Williams Field, then they are hopeful to make a deep playoff push in the 6A conference. But until then, it’s just one play at a time. 

“We talked after the game, we have to play one play at a time,” Moreno said. “Doesn’t matter who we’re playing, doesn’t matter what the score is. Just play one game at a time.” 

Next up: 10-1 Queen Creek wraps up the regular season against 4-6 Williams Field. 10-4 Gilbert hosts 3-7 Desert Ridge on Senior Night.