#4 Phoenix Christian Holds off #15 Tanque Verde In 34-28 Thriller

The Phoenix Christian Cougars defeated the Tanque Verde Hawks 34-28 on Friday night in a thriller of a matchup.

Most football matchups in August see teams battling the heat along with injuries and cramping.

The Cougars were one of those teams that faced those challenges and had multiple players step up.

Phoenix Christian head coach Jason Kindred was pleased with how his team dealt with adversity in their opening game.

“That was a huge win; that was a gutsy win,” Kindred said. “The heat, the weather, everything about it. We don’t have a lot of numbers, but some guys really stepped up.”

Opening up the game, the Cougars dominated possession of the ball.

Making their presence known in the ground game, the Cougars marched down the field on their opening drive with almost strictly running plays.

Scoring the first touchdown of the season for the Cougars was 2027 athlete Gio Young, who scored from one yard out.

Aggressive is the best way to describe how Phoenix Christian started the game as they opted to go for an onside kick attempt following their touchdown.

The attempt proved to be successful, giving Phoenix Christian the ball right back.

On their second drive of the game, the Cougars went to their other dynamic runner.

2027 running back Maurice McMihelk scored a 14-yard touchdown on a counter play.

Out of the gate, the Cougars led 13-0.

The lead was not held onto long, though, as Tanque Verde gained momentum of their own.

With their first possession of the game, the Hawks struck back.

Tanque Verde started with great field position and used the same tactics Phoenix Christian was using, and that was to pound the rock.

Late in the first quarter, the Hawks ran a reverse to 2027 athlete Mason Sandoski, and he scampered in for a 16-yard touchdown.

Rounding out the first 12 minutes, the Hawks' defense made a play.

Phoenix Christian ended up fumbling the ball deep in their own territory, and Tanque Verde 2028 defensive back Gabe Torgeson was able to fall on it.

Shortly after recovering the fumble, Torgeson was also the one to score off the turnover.

Torgeson made a few defenders miss and scored a 13-yard touchdown to give the Hawks a 14-13 lead.

The fireworks show continued, however, as Phoenix Christian was able to respond right back.

Just like they did a couple of times before, the Cougars methodically made their way down the field on the backs of their ground attack.

Then for the second time in the first half, Young found his way into the end zone, this time from four yards out.

Fast forward to the last minute of the first half, chaos ensued.

Tanque Verde garnered another great drive down the field and even milked a good chunk of time off the clock before scoring.

2028 athlete Gaines Gooch scored a 7-yard rushing touchdown with only 51 seconds left in the quarter.

Just when people may have thought the quarter was over, the Cougars had other plans.

On the first play of their drive with less than a minute in the half, McMihelk broke free and used his top-end speed to score an 80-yard rushing touchdown.

Phoenix Christian led 28-21 after the first half and held the momentum heading into the final 24 minutes.

It would end up taking deep into the third quarter for the next score to transpire in the contest.

Tanque Verde became aggressive and went for it on 4th and 10 that ended up paying off.

The Hawks wound up tying the game as Sandowski scored his second touchdown of the evening after he rushed for a 20-yard score.

In the final quarter, Phoenix Christian relied on their defense to get two crucial turnovers.

The first turnover came as Tanque Verde fumbled the ball, which was then recovered by Phoenix Christian 2029 defensive linebacker Lekai Bolton.

With around five minutes left in the game, the Cougars relied on their star player to snatch the lead back.

Scoring his third and final touchdown of the night was Young, who powered his way into the end zone for a 4-yard rush.

It may be surprising, but Young only started playing football a couple of years ago, as he used to only be a basketball player.

Now he knows the team needs him to be a player that they can rely on.

“When the team needs me, I put my foot on it,” Young said. “I realized that it is a lot of fun and hard work and dedication. It’s very hard; a lot of people can’t do it.”

The PAT attempt ended up being blocked by the Hawks, though, giving Phoenix Christian only a 34-28 lead.

Knowing it could be their last drive of the game, Tanque Verde started to march down the field in attempts to win the game.

The Hawks moved the ball efficiently and got deep into Phoenix Christians' territory.

But just like they did the entire game, the defensive unit for the Cougars came through.

There was only a minute left in the game when the Cougars forced yet another fumble that was then recovered by Phoenix Christian defensive lineman Kendrick Shields.

Kindred said those turnovers were vital to the team's success Friday night.

“Turnovers in a game like this are key; they’re vital,” Kindred said. “That last fumble was huge.”

The fumble proved to be a difference-maker in helping the Cougars take down a tough Tanque Verde team.

Phoenix Christian now moves to 1-0 on the season, and they intend to keep on rolling and focusing on who is in front of them.

“We’re going to keep on grinding no matter what,” Young said. “Whoever the team is, even if they are ranked higher than us. We’re the underdogs.”

Next up: 1-0 Phoenix Christian will look to stay undefeated when they take on 1-0 Benson. 0-1 Tanque Verde will look to get their first win of the season versus 0-1 Morenci.