CHANDLER, Ariz. — It's been seen many times in sports. A team that loses in a championship game or series doesn't have as good of a year the next year and sometimes even misses the playoffs entirely. We just saw this play out with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
However, that wasn't the case for the Canyon View Jaguars.
One year after finishing as the runner-up in 5A girls flag football, the Jaguars won the state championship by defeating Mountain Pointe, 34-14, on Saturday at Chandler High School.
The Jaguars have been a team on a mission all year.
They started the season with a 28-point win over Verrado, then followed that up with shutout victories over Desert Edge and Notre Dame Prep before their lone loss of the season, a hard-fought 10-point loss to eventual 6A state champion Hamilton.
Canyon View wouldn't lose again. After the loss to Hamilton, the Jaguars won eight straight games, five of which were shutouts, to end the regular season. Their offense caught fire in that stretch, never scoring less than 28 points in a game.
When the playoff brackets came out, the Jaguars received the No. 2 seed in 5A, and rolled off four more wins en route to the state championship.
Canyon View beat No. 15 Desert View, 49-0, in the first round, No. 7 Buena, 17-7, in the quarterfinals, No. 3 Campo Verde, 16-13 in the semifinals and finally No. 1, 34-14, Mountain Pointe in the state championship game.
In the title game, Canyon View was led by two-way star Makenzie Pope, who had two interceptions and returned one for a touchdown, and caught two touchdowns on offense.
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