4th & Goal stop lifts Scottsdale Christian past St. John's to complete 2A title three-peat

It was late in the 4th quarter. St. John's had 4th & goal on the Scottsdale Christian 7-yard line. Kaden Waite rolled out looking for an open receiver and Scottsdale Christian wrapped him up for a sack to save the 2A title game.

The Eagles ended up defeating the Redskins 27-22 in an absolute thriller.

The game didn’t start pretty for the Eagles, though. 

One of the first plays of the game, St. Johns defense came through. 

St. Johns 2027 defensive back/quarterback Kaden Waite snagged an interception and returned it 50 yards for six.

Their defense caused two turnovers in the first two possessions of the game.

Linebacker Trace Nielsen recovered a fumble to give his offense the ball on the second drive. 

It only took two plays for St. John's to add onto their lead in the first quarter. 

Senior athlete Sam Winters ran up the middle for a 68-yard touchdown.

St. John's then converted a two-point conversion as Waite scampered in the end zone. 

The Redskins had the ball for a total of 48 seconds after the first quarter, but led Scottsdale Christian 15-0 after the end of the quarter. 

Scottsdale Christian head coach Mike Sheahan knew his team wouldn’t give up.

“This is the most resilient group I’ve been around,” Sheahan said. “It’s a special group of young men.” 

Scottsdale Christian, early in the second quarter, put it together on offense and got points on the board. 

Senior quarterback Sean Helgeson connected with junior wide receiver Kyle Olafson on multiple occasions to get down the field.

The drive was capped off by senior running back Everett Salazar scoring a 1-yard touchdown. 

Keeping the momentum going, Scottsdale Christian got in the end zone again in the first half.

It was similar to their scoring drive before, with a heavy dose of the passing game.

Helgeson was able to escape the pocket and throw on the run to find senior tight end Martin Perez for a 13-yard touchdown. 

Scottsdale Christian trailed 15-13 to St. John's, but they knew in the second half they would leave it all out on the field.

“We have 24 minutes left,” Helgeson said. “For us seniors, a lot of aren’t ever going to play again. You've got to give it all to the last whistle.” 

Giving it their all is exactly what the Eagles would do. 

Late in the third quarter, Scottsdale Christian obtained their first lead of the game after another methodical drive downfield. 

It was Salazar scampering into the end zone again for a 9-yard touchdown to give the Eagles the lead. 

In the fourth quarter, Scottsdale Christian kept the momentum rolling. 

In what was one of the best defensive plays of the game, junior defensive back Caleb Murphy snagged an interception to set his offense up with great field position. 

They then added to their lead as Salazar scored his third touchdown of the game, as he pushed into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown. 

Salazar mentioned that some of the adversity Scottsdale Christian faced in the 2024 season helped this year's team overcome the adversity they faced in the championship game this year. 

“Last year, all the adversity we went through, there are still so many guys (on this team) from last year's team, we stepped up,” Salazar said. “We play for each other.” 

Even though the Eagles held all the momentum, St. John's wasn’t going to go down without a fight. 

They got back on the board for the first time since the first quarter when Waite connected with Winters for a 23-yard touchdown to cut the lead. 

Their defense then got a crucial stop to give their offense the ball back with a chance to win the game. 

St. John's ended up getting down to the goaline however, Scottsdale Christians defense prevailed and caused a turnover on downs to crown themselves the 3A champions.

Scottsdale Christian now sits atop the 2A throne for three years in a row, something that seems almost impossible to do. 

“It’s hard to do one, it’s extremely hard to do two, I heard it’s impossible to do three,” Sheahan said. “But I don’t think it is anymore.”