GLENDALE, Ariz. — The 2024 2A high school football season came an end the same way as the 2023 season did with Scottsdale Christian defeating Pima to win the state championship.
Unlike last season's dominant 41-24 victory, however, the 2024 title game was a nail biter, with Scottsdale Christian edging out Pima, 28-27, to win the school's fourth state championship.
This caps a Cinderella run through the playoffs for Scottsdale Christian, which came into the playoffs as the No. 12 seed after a regular season that saw the Eagles finish 6-4 with all six of those wins coming against their Verde region opponents (Scottsdale Prep, Coronado, Veritas Prep, Valley Lutheran, Madison Highland and Shadow Mountain).
The Eagles closed out the season with three wins where they scored 174 points and only gave up seven, setting the stage for their playoff heroics.
Scottsdale Christian opened the playoffs against No. 5 Santa Cruz Valley and upset the Dust Devils 28-6. Next up came a rematch with No. 13 Veritas Prep, with the Eagles getting their second win this season over the Falcons, 26-24, overcoming the suspensions of 22 players due to a fight at the end of the game against Santa Cruz Valley.
The Eagles then got 18 of those players back as they took on No. 1 San Tan Charter in the semifinals and upset the Roadrunners 34-21 to advance back to the championship game.
Then came a rematch with Pima, a team the Eagles had lost to, 20-17, on Oct. 11. Pima took a 6-0 lead early thanks to a touchdown pass from quarterback Cedrick Grimes to Keegan Corona.
Grimes would find tight end Preston Russell for a 31-yard touchdown in the second quarter to extend the Roughriders' lead to 13-0, but Scottsdale Christian would cut into the lead before the end of the half thanks to a 28-yard touchdown pass from Sean Helgeson to Isaiah Steffen that made the score 13-7. That would be score when the teams when to halftime.
The Eagles would grab a 14-13 lead in the third quarter on a touchdown run by running back Caleb Randall, but Pima would take that lead back before heading to the fourth and final frame after Grimes and Russell connected again for a touchdown to make the score 21-14.
Randall would tie the game at 21 with a short touchdown run in the fourth quarter, but Pima would answer with a touchdown run of their own by running back Jayden Martinez to make the score 27-21 with just 2:21 remaining.
Just one minute and seven second later, the Eagles would score what would prove to be the state championship-clinching touchdown as Helgeson found wide receiver Harrison Gurash for a touchdown on a trick play to make the score 28-27.
Pima would fumble on the ensuing drive and Scottsdale Christian would recover and hold on to win the 2A state title.
As mentioned above, this is Scottsdale Christian's fourth state title. The Eagles won the C state title in 1983, the 1A state title in 1989 and the 2A state title last season. This was the Eagles' sixth time playing in a state title game.
For Pima, this was the third year in a row the Roughriders have reached the 2A title game, but the second straight time they have lost. Pima has played in 21 state title games, the second-most in state history and has won 10 state championships, the third-most in state history.
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