Rams celebrate Senior Night with victory over Seton Catholic

The Maricopa Rams followed up Friday’s pre-game Senior Night ceremony with a post-game victory celebration.

Bouncing back from an early deficit and getting crucial contributions from their offense, defense and special teams, the Rams defeated Chandler Seton Catholic, 37-25, for their first win in the Class 4A-II East Sky Region.

“This is one of those wins that programs are started with,” Maricopa coach Cory Nenaber said. “That’s a really good (Seton Catholic) football team over there. We played our best football game – not perfect – but our best one of the season. It’s huge, our first region win ever in 4A. This is what we’re going to build on.”

On offense, the Rams rushed for 288 yards and got two touchdowns each from Brian Nechamkin and Randel Barber. Defensively, they intercepted five passes. On special teams, they tallied a safety on an errant Seton Catholic punt snap and scored a touchdown on a 90-yard kickoff return by K.J. Diehl.

“Maricopa played an excellent football game, obviously,” Seton Catholic coach Rex Bowser said. “They are to be congratulated. They really did a nice job.”

It all started for Maricopa (3-6 overall, 1-5 East Sky Region) with a momentum-changing fourth-down conversion midway through the first quarter. Trailing 6-0 and facing a fourth-and-7 from the Seton Catholic 42-yard line, the Rams called for a fake punt.

Diehl, the Rams’ senior quarterback and punter, took the snap from punt formation and threw the ball to Barber for 13 yards and a first down.

Nechamkin broke loose for a 27-yard run on the following play, and he capped the drive with a 2-yard burst into the end zone to give Maricopa a 7-6 lead.

“It is telling our kids, ‘We’re going to do everything we can to win the game,’” Nenaber said about the coaching staff’s decision to attempt the fake punt. “They know that about us. They have to make the plays, and they did. Randel made a great catch on the fake punt.”

An interception by Justin Warren set up the Rams’ second touchdown, a 2-yard run by Nechamkin that increased the margin to 14-6.

After Seton Catholic’s Alexander Ciferno scored on a 1-yard run, Diehl returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown with 6:31 remaining in the second quarter.

Maricopa scored a safety in the third quarter when a punt snap by Seton Catholic sailed out of the end zone. Later in the third, the Rams added a 1-yard touchdown run by Barber to stretch their lead to 30-12.

Following Ciferno’s 2-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter for Seton Catholic, Barber scored on a 5-yard run for Maricopa to make it 37-18.

Seton Catholic (5-5, 2-4) struck for a 41-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Wallace to Andrew Gillespie with 6:58 left, and the Sentinels then recovered an onside kick.

An interception by Patrick Duffy gave the ball back to the Rams with 5:49 remaining.

The Maricopa defense produced two more turnovers in the final 1:28, when Ryan Sarver and Warren intercepted passes to clinch the victory.

“It’s a big win to finish out our senior year at Maricopa – our last home game of the year – and have a chance to keep our playoff hopes alive,” said Diehl, who finished with 68 yards passing and 52 yards rushing in addition to his 90-yard kickoff return.

Barber led the Rams with 100 yards rushing on 21 carries, while Nechamkin rushed for 94 yards on 11 attempts.

Wallace completed 16 of 36 passes for 308 yards for Seton Catholic. Gillespie finished with seven receptions for 178 yards for the Sentinels, while Mike Amorosi added 171 yards rushing on 22 carries.

“They’re going to get their catches,” Nenaber said about the Sentinels’ no-huddle, passing-oriented offense. “We’ve got to tackle. We did that tonight.”

Photo by Tom Kessler