Salpointe Dominates Road Trip to Casa Grande

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – The Salpointe Catholic Lancers put together a dominant offensive performance Thursday night, defeating the Casa Grande Cougars 45-14.

Salpointe Catholic wasted little time on defense, quickly putting pressure on Casa Grande and immediately coming up with an interception.

Junior athlete Aliyah Adger came up with the interception off a bobbled ball to put the Lancers in great field position early.

After making their way inside the red zone, the Lancers were held to fourth down by the Cougars.

However, on fourth down, sophomore quarterback/linebacker Isla Collins connected with sophomore wide receiver Erin Evens for the first touchdown of the game.

On Casa Grande’s next drive, they found a little more success making their way to the 50-yard line.

However, the Lancers forced a turnover on downs near midfield.

The Lancers capitalized after Collins used her speed to outrun the Cougar defenders to the outside for a touchdown.

The extra point conversion extended the Lancers' lead to 14-0 with just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Casa Grande senior athlete Kayla Tacker made an incredible catch right before the end of the quarter to put the Cougars inside the 50-yard line.

However, the drive came to an end after Adger intercepted the overthrown ball for her second interception of the night, creating a lot of momentum for the Lancers.

With just under seven minutes remaining in the half, Salpointe Catholic capitalized on the turnover after Collins connected with Evens on the short pass for her second receiving touchdown of the night.

The successful extra-point attempt extended the Lancers' lead to 21-0.

Casa Grande took over needing to put points on the scoreboard before halftime.

The Cougars finally struck for their first points of the night.

Senior quarterback Sarah Mountz passed the ball to senior athlete Lynisee Armstrong over the middle, who took off for a long receiving touchdown.

Salpointe Catholic took the ball over with 2:34 and looked to put more points on the board before the break.

On the first play, Collins took off for a long run crossing the midway point for the Lancers.

The following play, Collins scrambled from side-to-side until finding junior athlete Kiara Mendoza for a big gain.

The play set them up inside the red zone with just under a minute remaining in the half.

To finish off the drive, Collins quickly took off to the left side and raised her hand in the air as she raced into the end zone to finish off an impressive first half.

The score extended the Lancers' lead to 28-7 with 43 seconds remaining before halftime.

Salpointe carried its momentum into the second half, continuing to put pressure on Casa Grande on both sides of the ball.

To start the half, Collins connected with Adger on a deep route to bring the Lancers inside the opposing 40-yard line early.

Collins finished off the drive with a touchdown after connecting with senior athlete Jhianae DesRosier over the middle on a streak route for a receiving touchdown.

The touchdown extended the lead to 35-7 with still 11:05 remaining in the third quarter.

Casa Grande took over looking to cut the deficit and found more success offensively.

The Cougars made their way inside midway point after Mountz connected with Tacker on another contested ball.

With 6:24 remaining in the third quarter, the Cougars had made their way inside the red zone.

However, Mountz went for a touchdown pass that was jumped by Adger for her third interception of the night.

Shortly after, the Lancers capitalized on the turnover after Collins launched the deep ball to Mendoza for an extremely long touchdown.

The successful PAT extended the lead to 42-7 with just under four minutes remaining in the quarter.

The score remained the same entering the fourth quarter.

Casa Grande continued to battle in the fourth quarter, finding the end zone for its second touchdown of the night to cut into the deficit.

Tacker caught the contested ball in the corner of the end zone to score her 85th career receiving touchdown.

The score cut the deficit to 42-14 early in the fourth quarter.

Salpointe Catholic also added a field goal to finish it scoring and maintain their commanding lead.

Freshman kicker Chloe Good knocked down the successful field goal, going perfect on the night.

Casa Grande continued to battle in the fourth quarter; however, it wasn’t enough to come back and win.

The Lancers’ defense held firm down the stretch, preventing the Cougars from making another push.

Offensively, the Lancers couldn’t be stopped, scoring 14 points in three quarters.

Salpointe Catholic secured the 45-14 victory, handing previously undefeated Casa Grande its first loss of the season.

The 15-2 Lancers await their seeding in the 4A playoff bracket while the 14-1 Cougars still lead their region and also await their seeding the 5A playoff bracket.