Valley's Finest Wins Gotta Believe President's Cup On Hail Mary As Time Expires
- Mason Byers
- Feb 14
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 19
On Saturday, talented players all over Arizona took part and faced one another in the Gotta Believe Presidents Cup.
Here are the games we covered today:
First Round: Colts (Casteel) vs. AZ 87 Maroon (Hamilton B)
The Colts would end up getting the ball first and making an early statement in the contest.
On the very first play of the game, 2027 quarterback Tee Smith fired a deep bomb to 2027 wide receiver Aaden Tang for a touchdown.
AZ 87 Maroon were also able to get down the field in a hurry to quickly tie the game up.
However, the Colts' offense kept pushing the ball down the field.
Catching the second touchdown of the game for the Colts was 2027 athlete Troy Jauregui.
The Colts' offense seemed unstoppable as they would then extend their lead to over 20+ points.
Casteel 2029 athlete Hezekiah Smith was able to haul in a touchdown grab.
Then the dynamic duo of Tee Smith and Jauregui would connect for two touchdowns to end the game.
The Colts defeated AZ 87 Maroon 36-15 to move on to round two.
Round of 16: OWTK Hawks (Highland) vs. Alpha Recruits
The game would prove to be a classic shootout.
Scoring first would be the Hawks.
Highland 2027 quarterback Paiden Cash Dalhaug would throw a quick pass to 2027 wide receiver Enzo Nguyen for a touchdown.
Alpha Recruits would quickly tie the game up themselves; however, the tie would not last long.
On the first play of their second drive, the Hawks would score as Dalhaug threw a deep bomb to Nguyen for a touchdown.
After already catching two touchdowns, Nguyen would also provide on the defensive side as he snagged an interception.
The Hawks would keep the scoring rolling as Dalhaug threw another great pass, this time to 2028 athlete Zeus Vasquez.
Falling behind, Alpha Recruits would end up getting some momentum of their own.
Catching back-to-back touchdown passes for Alpha Recruits was Benjamin Franklin 2028 wide receiver Jude Barclay, which would cut the Hawks lead to 22-21.
The OWTK Hawks would eventually start to pull away.
Dalhaug ended up throwing his 4th and 5th touchdown passes of the game as he found Vasquez and Nguyen once more.
The OWTK Hawks would hold on in the end and beat Alpha Recruits 36-31.
Quarterfinals: Valley’s Finest vs. X-Men (Pinnacle '28s)
The game started with Valley’s Finest taking a commanding lead.
After their defense got a stop on X-Men's opening possesion Valley’s Finest made quick work on offense.
Red Mountain 2028 quarterback Dayne Silver would hit ALA Gilbert North 2027 athlete Isaac Massey on a quick out route for the opening touchdown.
Valley’s Finest would go two for two on their drives as they once again got into the endzone.
Silver would this time find Corona Del Sol 2027 athlete Riddik Jerdee for the touchdown after Jerdee made a leaping snag.
Not finding success early on offense, X-Men would finally be able to put numbers on the board.
Making the touchdown grab for X-Men was Pinnacle 2028 wide receiver Trey Fricke.
Valley’s Finest, though, would be able to seal the game away.
Silver threw his third touchdown pass of the game to Chandler 2027 wide receiver Kaydon Gray.
X-Men would score again; however, it was too little too late.
Valley’s Finest would win 21-14 over X-Men and move on to the semi-finals.
Semifinals: OWTK Hawks (Highland) vs. AZ 87 Black (Hamilton A)
The #3 seed OTWK Hawks and the #2 seed AZ 87 Black would meet each other in the semi-finals, with the winner heading to the championship game.
Both teams would end up scoring on their first drives.
AZ 87 Black would score after their receiver was able to come down with the catch after initially bobbling it.
While for the Hawks, Dalhaug would throw a quick slant to his receiver for the score.
Getting their lead back, AZ 87 Black was successful in finding the endzone once more.
This time, Hamilton 2029 tight end Grant Zelma would climb the ladder to score the TD.
The connection of Dalhaug and Nguyen would strike once more for the Hawks, though, and the game would be tied up at 14 apiece.
As the time ticked down, both teams would rush to score one more time. Taking the lead back again, AZ 87 Black scored with less than 2 minutes remaining.
Even though time was not on their side, the OWTK Hawks would put together a game-tying drive to send the game into overtime.
It seemed as though the game was going to be in favor of AZ 87 Black; however, they committed a pass interference in the longest-yard overtime.
The penalty allowed the Hawks to have one last attempt at winning the game.
Not folding under pressure, Dalhaug went to his main target in Nguyen for the win.
The OWTK Hawks won the thriller versus AZ 87 Black 22-21 and punched their ticket to the championship game.
Championship: Valley’s Finest vs. OWTK Hawks (Highland)
#5 seed Valley’s Finest would face the #3 seed OWTK Hawks for the Gotta Believe Presidents Cup trophy.
Riding the momentum from their overtime win in the previous round, the OWTK Hawks got out to an early lead.
On the opening drive for Valley’s Finest, they committed a turnover as the Hawks were able to come down with an interception.
The Hawks were then able to turn the turnover into more points.
Dalhaug, who was great all day, continued to dominate as he threw an early touchdown pass to give the Hawks an 8-0 lead.
After throwing the early interception, Valley’s Finest offense was able to regroup and get on the board.
Silver would throw his first touchdown pass of the game to Massey.
Valley’s Finest opted to go for the two-point conversion to tie the game up; however, it was unsuccessful.
Extending their lead, the OWTK Hawks would drive down the field with ease on their second drive.
Getting the ball near the goalline, Dalhaug was able to loft a pass to the back of the endzone to Nguyen for the score.
Valley’s Finest would respond and cut into the Hawks' lead.
Silver would throw his second touchdown pass of the game and convert the two-point conversion as he connected with Gray.
Both teams would keep exchanging blows.
For the Hawks, Dalhaug would find Vasquez in the back of the endzone for a touchdown.
For Valley’s Finest, it would be Silver connecting with Red Mountain teammate Kaeden Weaver.
After playing catch-up for most of the game, Valley’s Finest went for one more two-point conversion to tie the game up.
They would end up converting it as Silver was able to get the ball to Massey.
The game was tied at 22 with less than 4 minutes remaining in the game.
With only 30 seconds left in the contest, the OWTK Hawks would take the lead as Dalhaug threw his 4th touchdown pass of the game.
In what was a risky attempt, the Hawks elected to go for a two-point conversion to burn more of the time off the clock.
The attempt ended up being no good and allowed Valley’s Finest to get one play off and a chance to win the whole tournament.
Valley’s Finest would come through in the clutch.
Silver would stand tall in the pocket and launch an absolute bomb to Chandler 2027 quarterback Will Mencl to win the game and the tournament.
Valley’s Finest would win the Gotta Believe Presidents Cup in dramatic fashion and crown themselves the champions of the weekend.
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To download any clips that we posted to the BJ Media Twitter today, copy and paste the link of the tweet to this website: https://ssstwitter.com/. Camera clips can be viewed and downloaded here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1pL37qkx_VldthRezldpshnw_NngG7WFm
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