After 65 years of futility and frustration, Chandler High on Friday night finally earned its way to the promised land.
The Wolves captured their first state title since 1949, beating rival Hamilton 28-7 in the Division I state final at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.
Chandler's defense held Hamilton to 167 total yards, while the offense racked up 343.
"I thought the defense won the championship for us in all the games," Chandler coach Shaun Aguano said.
Both Chandler and Hamilton started slow, going three-and-out on their first possessions. After that, however, Chandler started to find its stride.
Chandler quarterback Bryce Perkins, who finished 13-of-17 for 138 yards and a touchdown with one interception, gave Chandler an early 7-0 lead after he took off to the right for a 21-yard scoring run. On the ensuing Hamilton possession, the Huskies drove inside the Chandler 10-yard line, but, on a rollout, Hamilton senior quarterback James Sosinski fumbled. It was recovered by Chandler senior safety Jaray Mills at Chandler's 2-yard line.
Sixteen plays and 98 yards later, Chandler found the end zone again when Perkins hit junior running back Micah Reed-Campos on a 9-yard screen pass to push Chandler's lead to 13-0 after the extra point was blocked.
Hamilton responded with a bruising drive that ended when senior wide receiver Brandon Krcilek took a reverse 11-yards for the score to close the gap to 13-7.
STATE TITLES ON FOX SPORTS ARIZONA
Division III: 11:30 a.m. Saturday
Division I: 2 p.m. Saturday (replay)
Division II: 4:30 p.m. Saturday
Perkins fired off a deep pass on the ensuing drive that was intercepted by junior running back/defensive back Kyeler Burke, giving Hamilton the ball back with 3:26 left in the third quarter.
Hamilton, however, couldn't turn the turnover into points, and the inability to capitalize frustrated Hamilton coach Steve Belles.
"I thought we had a chance," he said of how he felt after the Burke interception. "We could never take advantage of the opportunities we had tonight -- and we had quite a few -- and when you don't do that you don't deserve to win."
After a short drive, Hamilton running back Ari Johnson was stopped on fourth-and-1, giving Chandler the ball back. Perkins took over once again and scored on a 7-yard run and go up 21-7 with 7:01 left in regulation.
With the game in hand, Reed-Campos tacked on a 15-yard touchdown run to put the Wolves up 28-7 and seal the long-awaited state championship trophy.
"To finally get that state ring on my pinky? I can't expect anything else," Perkins said.
This story originally published via the East Valley Tribune.
