Cactus Shadows earns team’s third win with last second stand
MARC BUCKHOUT ~MANAGING EDITOR ~ 10/26/2011

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Friday was Senior Night at Cactus Shadows High School, but while the game was a chance to honor the outgoing seniors the contest also offered a glimpse to the program’s future.
In a game that wasn’t decided until a swarm of Cactus Shadows defenders brought down Paradise Valley junior Ryan Finley on the two yard-line and the Trojans were unable to get to the line of scrimmage and get off another play, the Falcons earned their third win of the season in a 49-42 thriller.
“Going in I thought it might end up being a shootout because both teams throw the ball well, but by the end I thought
I was going to have a heart attack,” Cactus Shadows coach Greg Davis said.
Heading into the game with a 2-6 record, the Falcons employed a new look Friday, one which included a heavy dose of junior quarterback Bryce Kinsler running the football.
“We’re going to create a tiny Tebow strategy,” Davis said. “What we’ve seen from a lot of defenses is they drop a bunch of players into coverage and aren’t even considering Bryce a threat to run the ball. Well, he’s a good athlete. We can use him as a duel threat and then they’re going to have to account for him both as a runner and as a passer.”
For the night Kinsler tallied 505 yards of total offense. Along with throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns on 26-of-37 passing the junior also rushed the ball 28
times for 157 yards. Kinsler was joined by junior R.J. Anderson as a 100 yard rusher, as the junior rushed for 114 yards on only 12 carries.
“That was the game plan,” Kinsler said. “We wanted to run the ball to open up the pass.”
Jumping to a 14-0 lead the Falcons supplied pressure on the visiting Trojans all night long. Despite scoring on four of their first five possessions though the Falcons couldn’t shake the Trojans, who also moved the ball up and down the field with relative ease.
At the half the shootout Davis had predicted was in full swing with the Falcons clinging to a 28-21 advantage.
After Paradise Valley missed a 31-yard field goal on their first drive of the second half the Falcons responded with an 80-yard drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kinsler to junior Matt Hartlen on 3rd-and-9.
Not content with reestablishing a two score lead, Davis called for an onside kick. On the play Connor Folts not only drilled the ball off one of the
Paradise Valley defenders, but the Falcons kicker also recovered the ricochet to give the Falcons the ball once again.
Ten plays later senior fullback Bryan Lynn barreled his way across the goal line from one yard out. With three minutes remaining in the third quarter the Falcons led by 21 for
the first time all season.
Paradise Valley, clinging to playoff aspirations, wouldn’t go easily though as Finley threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to close the third quarter and then a 7-yard touchdown pass with 8:21 remaining in the game to pull within 42-35.
In the back-and-forth affair Kinsler responded with an 8-play march that featured a 41 -yard run from the Falcons quarterback and then a 1-yard quarterback sneak on third and goal.
But in a second half that didn’t feature a single Paradise Valley punt, the Trojans matched the effort, this time a 54-yard touchdown pass from Finley, who threw for 410 yards
and five touchdowns on the night. With 3:48 the Trojans were within 49-42.
Cactus Shadows recovered an onside kick attempt by Paradise Valley, but couldn’t run out the clock.
On fourth-and-one from the Trojans 23 Davis called on his quarterback to try and get a first down that would have allowed Cactus Shadows to run out the clock.
Instead the quarterback options around the left side was stymied as Paradise Valley’s defense came up with the stop, tackling Kinsler short and giving the ball back to their offense with 2:01 left in the game.
With no timeouts remaining Finley converted on 4-of-7 passes to move his team from the Trojans 23 to the Falcons 3 as the clock dropped under 20 seconds.
On 1st-and-goal from the three Finley tried to take the ball in himself, but was tackled by a host of defenders on the two-yard line.
When the Trojans couldn’t get lined up in time to get off another play or down the ball to kill the clock, the Falcons began the celebration, with Davis leading the charge on to the field as a roster full of players jumped into the air, screamed and exchanged hugs as time expired.
For the second time in five home games Davis was treated to being carried off the field by his players.
“When the clock is against you it seems like it goes extremely fast, but I swear I looked at the clock eight times on that final drive and it always said 1:13,” he said. “I wasn’t sure if they were going to be able to get another play off, but when the time expired I was a play ground kid all over again.”
Kinsler explained that even though he and his teammates won’t get the opportunity to participate in the postseason they have continued to give it their best.
“We want to finish strong,” he said. “Especially, because we want to send the seniors
out the right way. We’re playing for them.”
Davis said he believes a strong finish could have a carry over effect heading into 2012.
“We have sophomore and juniors that have gotten valuable playing time,” he said. “To see the young guys get experience and contribute gives you reason for optimism.”
The Falcons close the 2011 season on Friday at Shadow Mountain (3-6), when they
take on the Matadors in a 7 p.m. matchup.

BOULDER CREEK
The Jaguars, needing a win to solidify themselves as a playoff team, claimed a hard-earned 14-0 win against a scrappy Bradshaw Mountain team, to improve to 6-3 on the season.
The Jaguars led only 7-0 until making it a two-score game with 7:56 left in the game.
Boulder Creek closes the regular season at 7 p.m., Thursday in Mesa when they take on Desert Ridge (7-2) last year’s state runners-up.