Maricopa wins in suspenseful 2-minute finale

One minute and 56 seconds.

When Marana High School of Tucson broke the 29-29 tie Friday evening at Maricopa High School, the time remaining on the scoreboard clock said it all: No room for errors.

With a sophomore quarterback that had been up-and-down all night in his throwing game and a team that had racked up 80 yards in penalties, a victory essentially called for all imperfections to be removed. With three timeouts as their crutch, the Rams (3-3) completed a 78-yard drive that was topped by a touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Adam Kochheiser, setting the score at 36-35.

Then, Maricopa’s coach Cory Nenaber decided to put his trust in the players.

“That’s what I told the offensive line,” Nenaber said. ”We’re going for two right now, because I believe in you.”

The offense didn’t disappoint. The team’s go-to running back Falaah Shabaaz punched it in for the victory.

The 37-36 win in the Rams’ first section game was, without a doubt, the most nail-biting contest so far this season. Nenaber’s assessment of the game drove home this fact.

“That’s up there in one of the top games I’ve been a coach for,” he said.  

Friday night’s contest got off to a slow start offensively, especially for Maricopa. The Tigers (3-3) recovered a fumble on the Rams’ first possession of the game. There were several moments in the first half when Rams quarterback Isaiah Pedro had trouble connecting with receivers.

“One of the things you do to disrupt a quarterback is make him uncomfortable,” Nenaber said. “And I think he was uncomfortable.”

With the Tigers up 7-0 with less than 2 minutes left in the first half, Pedro was hit in the backfield in Rams’ territory and fumbled the ball. The ball was recovered by Marana junior Travis Howard who took it to the endzone, putting the Tigers up 13-0.

Dropping the ball is uncharacteristic of Pedro, Nenaber said.

“But I thought he played like a grown man in the second half,” the coach added.

Pedro wasn’t the only player on the Rams who shined Friday night. The spotlight was also on Shabaaz, Kochheiser and senior wide receiver Tim Byrd.  

***ADVERTISEMENT***Shabaaz answered a Tigers’ touchdown at 8:56 left in the third quarter by scoring on the kickoff return. His 75-yard return put the score at 21-13 with Marana in the lead.

When the Tigers scored on their next possession, Shabaaz answered again. The senior running back carried the ball seven times in a 10-play drive to the endzone, eventually putting 6 points on the board. Kochheiser caught a pass in the endzone during a 2-point conversion with 1:24 left in the third quarter, setting the scoreboard at 29-21.  

Byrd, who scored at the end of the first half, helped tie up the game mid-way through the fourth, with a 21-yard touchdown pass.  Shabaaz then punched it in for two points.

In the final drive of the game, Nenaber said having three timeouts was key. The coach was forced to use the timeouts when Pedro connected with receivers who couldn’t get out of bounds, which kept the clock moving.

“I think we did a pretty good job of seeing the field,” he said. “Down to two minute, we hit the middle of the field a couple times, which usually you don’t want to do.”

Kochheiser, Shabaaz and junior wide receiver Joseph Flores contributed to the much-needed yardage during the 78-yard drive as Pedro hit them with accuracy.

Nenaber said, for a sophomore quarterback, Pedro “did some things really well.”

“He’s grown up before our eyes, which is what we want,” he said.

Maricopa will travel to Canyon del Oro High School in Tucson next Friday. Game starts at 7 p.m.