American Leadership Academy Queen Creek (3-1) has been looking to make a name for themselves in the 6A region, and they may have done that on Friday night with a last-minute play to stun Pinnacle (4-0).
ALA Queen Creek and Pinnacle was a much-anticipated matchup between two top Arizona quarterbacks: 3-Star junior, Wyatt Horton for Pinnacle, and 3-Star BYU commit Enoch Watson starting for ALA Queen Creek.
Backed up at their one-yard line midway through the first quarter, it didn’t take long for Enoch Watson to find his speedy wideout Jayden Williams for a 99 yard touchdown.
Williams had four receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown last week in their win against Sandra Day O’connor.
“We’ve created a chemistry throughout the year and it’s really showing,” Williams said.
That was their only big play of the first half as the Patriots were held to only nine points.
Williams hauled in another touchdown, late in the game, Friday night to help fuel the comeback, giving him two for the night.
Their defense came up clutch as they forced a fumble with eight minutes to go to set the team up in great field position down 15-28 early in the fourth quarter.
The offense was able to convert, by driving right down the field to pull within five points.
“Defense forced a turnover and our offense capitalized,” Detmer said about the series.
Watson was the hero of the game when he made a highlight-reel play to score, giving them the lead with 15 seconds remaining.
The Patriots were able to erase a huge 28-9 deficit to notch a thrilling 29-28 win, and continue climbing up the 6a rankings.
Watson has been on a roll this year. He entered the game leading division 6a with 1,190 passing yards and 15 touchdowns and has been a key leader in their impressive 4-1 record.
“Stayed composed and stayed smooth,” Watson said about his final play.
It appeared that Watson was able to make crucial second-half adjustments that helped them to pull off the last-minute comeback.
“We knew what we could do…we just had to adjust to their looks,” Watson said.
It may have not been the prettiest win on paper but it is another step in the right direction for Detmer and his squad.
“If you’re Pinnacle you’re kinda like how did that just happen,” Detmer said. “Everyone’s been there—it just went our way this time.”
ALA Queen Creek will be tested again this Friday when they play Mountain Pointe (4-1).
