The Canyon Springs football team lined up for a short field goal with about three minutes remaining today against host Arbor View in the Mountain Regional quarterfinals.
A made kick likely would have brought overtime. A missed kick would have signaled the end of the season.
But what about a touchdown?
The snap went wide to Martin Blake, who picked up the ball and made a defender miss. He looked up and saw a wide open Donte McJoy for the winning touchdown in a 24-20 victory.
And just like that Canyon Springs, which opened the season with six straight defeats, knocked off the defending regional champions on the road.
“Everyone was writing us off, even our own crowd and parents,” Canyon Springs coach Gus McNair said. “But we had faith in one another. We knew we could do something special.”
Canyon Springs graduated 33 players from last year’s Northeast League championship team. It returned just a handful of players, only five of whom had significant experience.
“We have sophomores and juniors in key spots. They needed to learn how to play at this level,” McNair said.
Tayjon Bullock had two receiving touchdowns from DJ Lewis-Bealer for the other Canyon Springs points.
The Pioneers play at Desert Pines in next week’s regional semifinals.
Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy