RECAP: Maryvale’s Miles Woods Dominates in Win Over North Canyon

If Maryvale needed someone to make a big play in Thursday night’s win, more than likely, it was 2027 wide reciever and defensive back Miles Woods.

Two explosive receiving touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and the other called game, where just four of the meaningful plays Woods made in the Panthers 39-26 win over North Canyon.

What’s even crazier is that Woods did all of that in his first game of the season, due to him having to sit out the first five games of the year after transferring from Carl Hayden this past summer.

“Miles is special, man,” co-head coach Mark Carter said. “He’s the guy all week we’ve been leaning on to be like, ‘Hey, get them in line. Hey, do this with them,’ just trying to help him become the leader that we know he can be.”

Woods couldn’t have been more ecstatic about finally getting in on the action.

“I’ve been waiting these five games, just waiting to get back on that field,” Woods said.

Woods’ contributions, as well as several other key transfer additions that became available this week for Maryvale, helped the Panthers capture its second win of the season, surpassing the win total from last season.

What the Panthers have already accomplished this season has more than impressed co-head coach Marcus Carter.

“Man, they are some resilient young men,” Marcus said. “Outside of football, the things that we have to all deal with together is remarkable, to be honest. Going through the situation at the beginning of the year… and then being able to lock in losing four games straight, you know, that’s hard man, especially when you have a culture that’s been losing a lot…

“They got new swag tonight, and so I think that lifted them, took them away from the depths of just being, you know, man, we just lost four games straight, and kids on the campus saying we’re gonna come watch us lose and stuff like that. And it just motivated us, man.”

Box Score

NOTE: View any scoring highlight by clicking on the corresponding bullet point.

First Quarter

Second Quarter

Third Quarter

2028 QB Messan Alokpovi (Maryvale) pass complete to 2027 WR Miles Woods (Maryvale) for a 35-yard touchdown. Extra point is no good. (25-18, 10:32)
2027 K Marque McCowin (Maryvale) sacked for a safety. (25-20, 6:41)
2027 QB Karlos Romandia (North Canyon) pass complete to 2026 ATH Dom Dampier (North Canyon) for a 43-yard touchdown. Extra point is no good.(25-26, 1:48)

Fourth Quarter

TEAM	1ST QTR	2ND QTR	3RD QTR	4TH QTR	FINAL
Maryvale	13	6	6	14	39
North Canyon	0	18	8	0	26

The Standouts

2028 Maryvale Quarterback Messan Alokpovi

After transffering from Alhambra this past summer, Alokpovi finally got to showcase his talent and showed why he is going to cause problems for teams in 4A over the next few years. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound quarterback was accounted for five of the six touchdowns Maryvale scored Thursday night—four on the ground and one through the air. Alokpovi also broke off for a couple of impactful runs.

2026 North Canyon Athlete Dom Dampier

The little brother of Utah quarterback Devon Dampier was all over the place on both sides of the ball Thursday night. Dom recovered a forced fumble and came down with an interception as well as racking in a 43-yard touchdown reception.

Key Plays

The way this game started Thursday night was a story of its own. Maryvale’s defense forced North Canyon to go 3-and-out on its first offensive drive, with 2027 linebacker Noah Hamilton sacking North Canyon 2027 quarterback Karlos Romandia on the first play of the game. However, Maryvale muffed the punt return and the Rattlers were able to recover. 2026 wide reciever Dom Dampier made a big tip drill reception to put North Canyon’s offense in the red zone, but Maryvale’s defese came up big again as 2026 cornerback Matthew Mbaikambey had back-to-back big pass-breakups to prevent the Rattlers from scoring.

Both of North Canyon’s touchdowns in the second quarter were products of two forced fumble recoveries. The first was recovered by senior defensive lineman Damien Fletcher, the second was forced by 2027 linebacker Isaiah Vasquez that was returned by Dampier to the Maryvale 1-yard line.

After North Canyon scored its first touchdown of the game, scored off Fletcher’s fumble recovery, Dampier was at the right place to catch a ball from Alokpovi that was thrown in the middle of nowhere. The Rattlers were gaining momentum, but Maryvale shut it down quick. 2029 defensive end Kevin Smith sacked Romandia on North Canyon’s following offensive drive that forced the Rattlers to punt.

With just over three and a half minutes remaining in the game, the lights at Maryvale’s football field went out. But that didn’t stop the Panthers from building off the success they had already establish in the fourth quarter. 2027 athlete Miles Woods made a tip drill interception that sealed the game for Maryvale.

Sound Off

Maryvale co-head coach Marcus Carter on how the team continuosly fights through adversity: “Situations are the best teachers. You know what I’m saying? And so, I think they kind of start feeling themselves a little bit and just started taking things for granted. And so now they got to know that, ‘Hey, listen, we got to play all four quarters,’ and, you know, not to say too much about Marcus and I, but people know who (Maryvale’s) head coaches are, and they have to understand that with the head coaches that they got, (opposing team’s) coaches are going to rile them up. They going to get everybody’s best game, just because not only people do want to beat us, they want to embarrass us, you know, I’m saying? And so, and we relish in that opportunity, so we want everybody’s best game. And so, you know, (the team) gets another opportunity in a couple weeks to play in another TV game. So this is preparing them, you know, for it, and you know, like I said, adversity is the best teacher.”

Maryvale co-head coach Marcus Carter on having the transfers avaiable Thursday night: “Big time players make big time plays. And, you know, guys come over here to play because they can be themselves. They’re going to be under the spotlight, and they get to shine and, and that’s it. Things were a little off tonight, obviously, because you put in all these different pieces in and, you know, the cramping so they’ve been sitting out for five weeks, you know, like Mark said that’s a coaching issue. We got to do a better job with that. But we expect the mistakes don’t take nothing away from North Canyon. They’re a good football team too, but our big time players made more plays tonight.”