Big Second Half Propels Canyon View Past Chaparral 38-31

The Canyon View Jaguars defended home turf and defeated the Chaparral Firebirds 38-31 to start 4-0 for the first time in program history.

For Canyon View, it was a bit of a rocky first half, but head coach JR Alcantar was happy with the way his team fought back to get in it.

“For some reason we like to be a second-half team,” Alcantar said. “Proud of the boys for being resilient and coming back like that.”

Kicking off the game, Canyon View put together a solid drive to get down the field on their opening possession.

The drive was cut short, however, after the Firebirds' defense was able to force a turnover.

2027 defensive back Taydin Hawker was able to recover a fumble that was forced by the Firebirds and end the Jaguars' chances of scoring.

For Chaparral, they were able to put points on the board on their first drive.

Keeping the drive moving forward was Chaparral 2027 running back Jayce Wilson, who broke free for a 20-yard run to move the chains.

Relying on a dynamic duo for the rest of the drive, the Firebirds struck first.

In what was almost two identical plays, Chaparral 2029 Ryan Trocki connected with 2027 wide receiver Jax Breslo on two deep bombs.

On both plays, Breslo dove for the ball and came down with it.

The second time they connected, it was a 15-yard touchdown.

Later in the first quarter, the Jaguars relied on their special teams unit to get on the board.

Chaparral attempted to punt the ball away, but 3-star Western Michigan DB commit Keegan McCarthy blocked the punt.

Falling on the blocked punt that landed in the end zone was 2027 defensive back Amr Hassan.

The play by Canyon View was huge, as it helped sway momentum back to their side.

With 12 minutes down in the game, the contest was tied at 7-7.

In the second quarter, Chaparral put together a methodical drive.

The Firebirds had a roughly 6:30-minute drive that they put together to take back their lead.

Multiple players moved the sticks for Chaparral, and they also had help from Canyon View, who committed three offside penalties.

Finishing the drive for Chaparral was Wilson, who scored a rushing touchdown from two yards out.

Late in the half, the Jaguars matched the score again.

For a majority of the scoring drive, they leaned on 2028 running back Brandon Arroyo to keep the drive alive.

Eventually, Arroyo found himself in the end zone after pushing his way forward for a 1-yard touchdown.

Arroyo said he always has the mentality to go down the field and find his way to put up six points.

“That’s always the mentality,” Arroyo said, regarding his mindset that he is always going to score near the goal line. “Run through a person's face; you keep doing it, they’re not going to want to hit you anymore.”

Heading into halftime, the game was tied at 14 apiece.

The beginning of the third quarter saw both teams struggle to find a clear rhythm on offense.

Eventually, though, Canyon View took advantage of good starting field position after Chaparral punted the ball away.

2027 kicker Austin Honsa drilled a 39-yard field goal to give the Jaguars their first lead of the game.

Late in the third, the possession once again belonged to Canyon View, and they started to add to their lead.

One of the biggest plays during the drive came from 2028 quarterback Titan Jacobs improvising out of the pocket and picking up a 32-yard run.

A few plays later, Jacobs threw a quick pass to 2028 wide receiver Jubie Pitre for an 8-yard touchdown.

The momentum started to keep rolling for the Jaguars.

On the very next play from scrimmage, Canyon View got a huge turnover on defense.

Jumping out of a cannon, Hassan snagged an interception and gave the Jaguars offense the ball back on the Firebirds 6-yard line.

Canyon View only needed one play to punch it in.

Jacobs threw his second touchdown pass of the night after he dropped a beautiful pass right in the bucket to Canyon View 2027 wide receiver Braylon Anderson for a 6-yard score.

Even though the game was tied at halftime, Canyon View knew they had to come out stronger in the final 24 minutes of the game.

“We started a little shaky; they led 7-0, but we just kept a positive mindset going into the second half,” Jacobs said. “We just came out and shined in the second half and took over.”

Seemingly out of nowhere, Canyon View took a 31-14 lead at the end of three quarters.

Similar to last week's game against ACP, though, Chaparral kept fighting back.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Trocki lofted a pass to Wilson, who proceeded to make multiple defenders miss to score a 41-yard touchdown.

The Firebirds kept chipping away at the lead.

With six minutes left in the game, the Firebirds got back into scoring positon.

Canyon View held strong on the goal line, though, and forced Chaparral to settle for a field goal.

2029 kicker Will Holyak hit the 24-yard chip-shot field goal to make it a one-possession game.

For one last time in the contest, Canyon View relied on their run game to close it out.

Multiple times during the drive, they fed Arroyo, who kept moving the chains and milking the clock away.

The Jaguars then scored one last time late to ice it.

2029 running back Charge Young broke free for a 24-yard touchdown and gave the Jaguars a 38-24 lead.

Chaparral would score one more time as Wilson scampered for a 51-yard touchdown.

It wasn’t enough, though, as the Firebirds' onside kick was unsuccessful, giving Canyon View the victory.

For the first time in program history, Canyon View starts the season 4-0 and hopes to continue to stack the wins.

With only a couple of weeks out until region play starts, Canyon View knows the road only gets harder and that they need to keep improving every week.

“We just gotta keep growing,” Alcantar said. “Our schedule doesn’t get any easier; we have to keep stacking days.”

Next up: 4-0 Canyon View looks to stay undefeated when they face 0-3 Camelback. 2-2 Chaparral looks to end their two-game losing streak when they take on 0-3 Apollo.