The Basha and Chandler high school football teams both showed why they are nationally ranked during their season-opening game on Saturday, Aug. 29.
Each time Chandler scored, it was answered by Basha with either a big play by receiver Makai Nelson or a defensive statement during the top-ranked Bears’ 37-26 win before an overflow crowd at Basha High and a national TV audience on ESPN.
The game was a rematch of last year's Open Division title game, won by Basha. Both teams entered the game ranked among the Top 25 nationally, with Basha No. 1 in The Arizona Republic's preseason 6A rankingsand Chandler No. 3.
This game was a much more competitive contest than last year's championship, which Basha won 34-7.
"They battled through adversity," Basha coach
Chris McDonald said of his team. "They got punched in the mouth, and they punched back."
After Chandler won the coin toss, it elected to receive and made a statement drive with Oregon-bound quarterback Will Mencl leading the Wolves on a 17-play, 80-yard drive that was capped with a 7-yard scoring pass to running back David Douglas. Mencl picked Basha apart down the field with short passes. Fifteen of those plays were passes and ended with 5:40 left in the first quarter.
"That first drive it shows what Will Mencl is about," McDonald said.
Mencl's counterpart, Jake Rogers, answered that drive with an 80-yard scoring drive that needed just seven plays. The biggest play came on a deep pass that was caught by Nelson for a 47-yard gain to the 10. Rogers capped it with a 3-yard scoring pass to Jaden Baldwin.
The wind picked up in the third quarter, impacting both quarterbacks.
But as time was running out in the half, and with no timeouts, Rogers lofted a 25-yard pass into the end zone. He knew Nelson was somewhere around, and the brilliant wide receiver made yet another big catch, this time in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. He leapt up and caught it in a crowd.
"It was directed towards him but the wind I think took it," McDonald said.
It was his second touchdown catch of the half and gave the Bears a 20-13 lead.
"It wasn't a Hail Mary play but it ended up turning into one," said Nelson, who had a punt return for a touhdown in the half called back by a penalty. "It feels good. We knew what we had to do when we came out here. ESPN. National TV. It didn't matter. We just knew football is about execution. We didn't worry about all of the extra stuff."
This was the biggest offensive play in a game of huge plays.
The defensive play of the game was turned in by linebacker Marc Duerson III and cornerback Tre Kennard after the Bears.
After Mencl hit Kaydon Gray for a 6-yard touchdown that tied the game at 20, he later had the Wolves moving into midfield after a three-and-out by Basha. But Duerson lodged the ball out of a receiver’s hands with a vicious hit. Kennard scooped up the ball and ran 60 yards for a touchdown and a 27-20 lead late in the third quarter.
"Every day, it's just practice habits," Kennard said. "I don't know how many forced fumbles (Duerson) had. I was able to take one to the crib."
Duerson also forced a fumble in the first half that Basha recovered.
Basha forced five turnovers in the game, the last coming on an interception of a Mencl pass by linebacker Kyser Wilson with 5:53 to play and Basha leading 30-26.
Basha finally put the Wolves away on Texas commit running back Noah Roberts' 10-yard touchdown run with 2:37 to play. Basha's big guys up front, led by tackles Jake Hildebrand and Dajohn Yarborough, finally had their way, moving the piles forward before Roberts' score.
"We had to count on (Roberts) in tough yards, because that wind made us one-dimensional," McDonald said. "And the defense does what the defense does."
Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don't miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Basha's big plays turn back Chandler in nationally televised opener
