Pioneers secure home Open Division play-in game
In their final game of the regular season, the Pinnacle Pioneers sent their seniors off in style, defeating the Salpointe Catholic Lancers, 28-21 in front of their home crowd on Senior Night.
The win secures a home playoff game as Pinnacle entered the week at No. 8 in the 6A Conference. Seeds 5-8 will host the 9-12 seeds next Friday with the winners moving on to the Open Division and the losers falling to the 6A bracket.
For much of the night, the lead felt comfortable as the Pioneers scored three touchdowns in the second quarter and then another midway through the third to obtain a 28-7 advantage. Salpointe scored on a fumble return and then again on offense with just over a minute remaining to close the gap to a single score. But by the time the Lancers got the ball back again, there was only time for one play.
”I gotta give credit to Salpointe,” Pinnacle head coach Dana Zupke said. “They slow-played us all night. They kept the ball as long as they could. It felt like we had control for most of the second half and then we do a couple of stupid things. We raised our blood pressure tonight, but we found a way to win.”
Zupke said the team’s goal at the start of the season was to make the Open Division, a place the Pioneers have only reached in 2019, the inaugural year of the event. As the calendar hits the second week of November, Pinnacle has found itself in that newly-expanded Open bracket.
The Standouts
Pinnacle DB Kash Silva
The 5-11, 190 pound junior plays nickel, defensive back, and outside linebacker. Silva picked up his fourth sack of the season with a 10-yard loss on third down to end a Salpointe drive. For the season, Silva has four fumble recoveries, three interceptions, and five (yes, five) blocked punts. He got close to another one Friday night, but just missed it. A team captain with a 4.0 GPA, Silva is a relentless player that finds a way to be around the ball. True competitor.
Pinnacle DE Ian Fullmer
The sophomore lineman got another sack on Friday (giving him 8.5 for the season). Fullmer (6-2, 215) is strong (benches 345 pounds) and uses that to get around and through his OL counterparts. Along with the height, a wingspan of 76.5 inches allows him to cause havoc to the offense. The athleticism also stands out. Will be one to watch over the next couple of years.
Pinnacle QB Antonio Casias
The senior quarterback (pictured at the top of the article) has been one of four players to man the position for the Pioneers this season. Casias had to sit the first five games (transfer from Cactus) and had just 10 attempts through the four contests he was eligible for. That changed on Friday. With Jackson Reader out due to an injury, Zupke went with senior Drew Varsano the first two series and then Casias the next two series. After that, the plan was to go with the hot hand. That was definitely Casias. He led Pinnacle to touchdown drives in all three of his second-quarter possessions. The third of those was capped by a 31-yard QB run. He also threw a touchdown pass in the third quarter to expand the lead to 28-7. Casias is 6-1, 185 pounds and was a two-time region champion while at Cactus.
Salpointe QB Rayce Alvarez
Like Pinnacle, the Lancers have had some fluctuation at quarterback this season with Alvarez taking about a third of the snaps in a two-player QB room. On Friday, it was Alvarez all the way. He led SCHS to a first-quarter touchdown drive to stake an early lead. Later, he got on a roll with five straight completions (all to RJ Gory). The big play the Lancers were waiting for finally came late in the game with a 73-yard strike to David Rushing to set up a score (a TD pass to Chris Chaney) during the comeback attempt.
Salpointe LB Bryan Melton
The Lancers’ senior linebacker leads the team in tackles (by a pretty comfortable margin). He began the Salpointe comeback with a heads-up defensive play. Pinnacle went for it on a fourth-and-three situation at the SC 33-yard line. It was a backwards pass that was dropped. But it wasn’t incomplete, it was a live ball and Melton alertly scooped it up and took it 60 yards for a touchdown. The 6-foot, 215-pounder now has four fumble recoveries for the season. Last month, Melton went on a visit to Western New Mexico (where he holds an offer).
Every Play Counts
- Salpointe’s defense forced a three-and-out on Pinnacle’s first drive (which ended at its 19-yard line). After a punt, the Lancers began at the Pinnacle 43, giving a short field for what became a touchdown drive.
- On a first-quarter possession, Pinnacle faced a fourth-and-one at the Salpointe 24-yard line. A false start (one of several for the Pioneers on the night) moved the ball back five yards and likely changed the play call. An overthrow on a pass ended the drive.
- A 27-yard pass from Antonio Casias to Tyson Muniz set the Pioneers up for a touchdown allowing them to take the lead at 14-7 in the second quarter.
- Trailing 21-7, Salpointe had a golden opportunity to draw closer before halftime. The Lancers had it third-and-four from the 7-yard line with 10 seconds remaining. A penalty on Pinnacle moved it half the distance to third-and-one from the 4 with 5.8 seconds left. Salpointe dropped back to pass. Pressure came and the pass was thrown long. The play took the entire 5.8 seconds and the Lancers came away empty.
- Trailing 28-7, Salpointe had its longest drive of the night in the third quarter. The Lancers went 71 yards in 11 plays to reach the 6-yard line. On fourth-and-five, they had to go for it with the 21-point deficit. An incomplete pass left Salpointe off the scoreboard once again.
- Pinnacle pulled off a fake punt from midfield midway through the fourth quarter. Cameron Candelaria completed an 11-yard pass to Muniz for a first down.
- Salpointe trailed 28-14 with just under four minutes remaining, but was stopped on downs at the Pinnacle 42-yard line.
- The Lancers kept fighting and finally got an explosive play as Rayce Alvarez hit David Rushing on a pass play that went for 73 yards. It led to a TD to bring Salpointe within one score.
- Salpointe was unable to recover an onside kick with 1:19 remaining. The Lancers had to use their remaining two timeouts and didn’t get the ball back until there was just 1.3 seconds left on the clock.
Box Score
Pioneers 28, Lancers 21
| SAL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
| PIN | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
First Quarter
Sal – Chris Chaney 5 yard run (Troy Kuhlman kick), 6:37
Second Quarter
Pin – Gavin Hammond 5 yard run (Garrett Oliver kick), 11:40
Pin – Brandon Morgan 5 yard run (Oliver kick), 4:56
Pin – Antonio Casias 31 yard run (Oliver kick), 0:55
Third Quarter
Pin – Tyson Muniz 13 yard pass from Casias (Oliver kick), 6:32
Fourth Quarter
Sal – Bryan Melton 60 yard fumble return (Kuhlman kick), 7:07
Sal – Chaney 15 yard pass from Rayce Alvarez (Kuhlman kick), 1:19
Team Statistics
| Salpointe | Pinnacle | |
| First Downs | 11 | 13 |
| Rushes-Yards | 14-55 | 31-139 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 20-34-0 | 19-34-0 |
| Pass Yards | 237 | 220 |
| Total Yards | 292 | 359 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 1 |
| Penalties | 10-80 | 15-121 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Salpointe – Chaney 9-66, Alvarez 5-(minus 11). Pinnacle – Hammond 17-64, Morgan 11-38, Casias 3-37.
Passing
Salpointe – Alvarez 20-34-0, 237 yards. Pinnacle – Casias 16-28-0, 192 yards, Varsano 2-5-0, 17 yards, Candelaria 1-1-0, 11 yards.
Receiving
Salpointe – Rushing 2-78, Gory 10-77, Chaney 3-38, Gutierrez 2-15, Wells 1-12, Moyle 1-11, Bryant-Lopez 1-6. Pinnacle – Muniz 9-104, Pinder 5-40, Lugo 1-33, Campbell 2-22, Hammond 1-17, #96 1-4.
Sound Off
Pinnacle QB Antonio Casias on how his teammates have embraced him in his first year at Pinnacle: “It’s been crazy. We have a really close quarterback group. We’re all competing, but we have a brotherhood. I feel like everyone has welcomed me in greatly.”
Salpointe head coach Pat Ryden on what his seniors have meant to the program: “Our seniors have meant everything to us. From when we started back in January, those guys have done a great job as far as our leadership goes. They’ve worked their tails off for four years. I can’t say enough about those guys.”
Pinnacle DB Kash Silva on what the playoffs mean to him: “This is where it all starts. We’ve got to win out. Our goal is, of course, the Open State championship. We’ve got to go and clean up all the mistakes tonight and moving forward be the best version of Pinnacle football.”
Pinnacle head coach Dana Zupke on his team’s defensive effort and ability to stick to the game plan: “We have so much confidence in our defense. With them getting that early score, they responded really well. Our defensive coordinator and our kids figured it out and we were able to get home on the quarterback.”
Zupke on what his large group of seniors (33 in total) have meant to the program: “They’re a special group of kids. They’re hard working. They mean so much. It makes me proud that I have that many seniors. It says a lot about the program that we have here that they make it through for four years.”
Next Week
The official AIA final rankings for the 6A Conference came out on Saturday morning. Both Salpointe and Pinnacle will be continuing on into the post season this Friday.
Salpointe (5-5) dropped from No. 14 to No. 17 in the final rankings. That places the Lancers in a 6A bracket first-round game on the road at 16th-seeded Queen Creek (6-4). The Bulldogs are coming off their biggest win of the season Friday night with a 30-22 victory at Red Mountain. This will be an elimination game for the Lancers. The four winners from the 13-20 games will play the four losers from the 5-12 games in the quarterfinals (bracket will be reseeded).
Pinnacle (7-3) will have at least two games remaining in its season. The Pioneers climbed from No. 8 to No. 7 and will host Williams Field (7-3) in North Phoenix on Friday night in an Open Division play-in game. The winner of that matchup will go to No. 2 Basha and remain in contention for the Open. The loser will drop to the 6A playoff bracket (where Salpointe could still be). Williams Field had a chance at a home game in this round (the Black Hawks were No. 6), but lost at Brophy, 56-28. That made the Broncos 6A Central Region champions via tiebreaker of highest final ranking of the three teams (Brophy, Williams Field, and Higley).
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