Wolves avenge defeat to rival, advance to championship
Postgame video with Adam Beadle
Just as it did three weeks ago, the Chandler Wolves built up a first-half lead against their rivals down Arizona Avenue, the Hamilton Huskies. But this time, they added on to it and made it big enough that a late comeback wasn’t going to flip the script.
And with that, Chandler held off Hamilton, 30-17 in an Open Division semifinal at Dobson High School in Mesa on Saturday night. The Wolves will play in the championship game for the first time since 2021, when they lost to Saguaro. Prior to that, Chandler captured five straight biggest-school titles from 2016-20.
Chandler will play Basha at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe next Saturday at 6 p.m. Basha, another Chandler Unified School District team, ended Liberty’s two-year reign with a 19-16 victory on Saturday.
The Wolves scored just five seconds into the game with a safety on a bad snap from center. Junior quarterback Will Mencl added a pair of touchdown runs and Chandler had a 16-0 lead before the first quarter ended. The Wolves never looked back.
Chandler head coach Ty Wisdom, in his first year leading the Wolves, held the Huskies to their lowest point total this season by far. Hamilton came into the game averaging 53 points per game.
”I thought (defensive coordinator) Coach (Steve) Huber and our defensive staff did a tremendous job of game planning,” Wisdom said. “Obviously, they’re a little bit different without their QB1. Schematically, we saw some things we thought we could take away.”
The Standouts
Chandler QB Will Mencl
The 6-4, 205-pound junior signal caller led his team on two scoring drives in the first quarter and capped them with runs. He added on another 11-yard scamper in the second half to give him 16 TD runs to go with his 33 touchdown passes this season. The dual-threat portion of his game has really become evident as the season wound down and the playoffs began. Mencl, who holds 16 Divison I college offers, has 10 rushing touchdowns in the past four games.
Chandler RB Chase Ochoa
The sophomore had just one carry in the first half and brought fresh legs into the third quarter. The Wolves used him repeatedly in the third quarter on what became a 10-play, 48-yard scoring drive (all runs up the middle). Ochoa finished with nine carries for 46 yards and a touchdown while allowing the Wolves to run clock and pound away behind their five offensive linemen, who have started every game this year (Alex Warren, Syncere Preston, Blake Speer, Noah Swope, and Sire Stewart). In addition to the beef from the linemen, Ochoa (5-11, 200) is pretty strong himself. He can squat 520 pounds and bench 300.
Chandler WR Maxwell Sprott
The junior receiver had a pair of big plays in the first half, when the Wolves did most of their damage through the air. Sprott caught passes of 28 and 50 yards from Mencl. The first one set up Chandler’s first touchdown. Sprott is quick, can stretch the field vertically, and is dynamic with the ball in his hands. So far, he holds offers from Arizona, Idaho, and Northern Arizona.
Hamilton WR Roye Oliver III
The Huskies’ star receiver wasn’t used much in the first half (two touches), but shined late when the passing game opened up. Oliver finished with six catches for 96 yards and a touchdown on a one-hand grab that was simply amazing. It was Oliver’s 29th touchdown catch of the season, which tied the all-time state record of John Henderson from Yuma Catholic in 2018. Just a sophomore, Oliver has a chance to rewrite a lot of record books over the next two years.
Hamilton QB Daniel Vaita
Vaita, a senior, was thrust into duty three weeks ago during the first meeting with Chandler. He led the Huskies to a pair of comeback victories. Once the offense opened up in the third quarter, he got going. Vaita completed six straight passes on a drive in the third quarter that ended with a TD to Roman Oliver. Later, he threw his second touchdown to Roman’s older brother, Roye. Vaita passed for 191 yards with 166 of those coming after halftime.
Every Play Counts
- On Chandler’s first possession, Will Mencl hit Maxwell Sprott for a 28-yard pass on third-and-15. That set up the Wolves’ first score.
- Hamilton pinned Chandler on the 3-yard line after a punt. However, there was an illegal formation penalty. Then a false start. When they backed it up another five and punted, Chandler made a fair catch at the 35.
- Chandler completed a pass in the red zone in the second quarter, but fumbled. Nicolas Barrie recovered for the Huskies.
- Hamilton had a chance to get the ball back before halftime, but a defensive holding penalty on an incomplete pass (on third down) gave the Wolves a first down and they ran out the clock.
- On its first possession in the third quarter, Hamilton went for it on fourth-and-two from its own 48. An incomplete pass gave the Wolves the ball just past midfield. They turned that into a TD.
- Late in the third quarter, Chandler had back-to-back running plays that went out of bounds on its sideline. On both plays, Hamilton committed late hit penalties. Those 30 yards helped the Wolves tack on another TD early in the fourth quarter.
- Immediately after Hamilton closed the lead to 30-17 with over six minutes left, the Wolves would have started on their own 10-yard line. But a personal foul gave them 15 free yards.
- With Chandler at its own 32-yard line, Mencl picked up five yards for a first down. That led to Hamilton beginning to use its timeouts on defense.
- The Hamilton defense forced a fumble. Beau Jandreau returned it to the Wolves’ 33-yard line. But a personal foul penalty on the Huskies forced them to begin from the 48. They didn’t score on the drive.
- With just over three minutes remaining, Chandler lined up to go for it on fourth-and-five from its own 48-yard line. The Huskies jumped offside and never got the ball back.
Box Score
Wolves 30, Huskies 17
| CHAN | 16 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 30 |
| HAM | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 17 |
First Quarter
Chan – Safety. Quarterback recovered fumble in end zone., 11:55
Chan – Will Mencl 3 yard run (Ryan Zima kick), 9:29
Chan – Mencl 22 yard run (Zima kick), 1:16
Second Quarter
Ham – Preston Olson 32 yard FG, 3:10
Third Quarter
Chan – Chase Ochoa 2 yard run (Zima kick), 2:49
Fourth Quarter
Chan – Mencl 11 yard run (Zima kick), 11:11
Ham – Roman Oliver 20 yard pass from Daniel Vaita (Olson kick), 9:42
Ham – Roye Oliver III 35 yard pass from Vaita (Olson kick), 6:36
Team Statistics
| Chandler | Hamilton | |
| First Downs | 14 | 10 |
| Rushes-Yards | 47-211 | 22-46 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 15-19-0 | 14-27-0 |
| Pass Yards | 188 | 191 |
| Total Yards | 379 | 237 |
| Fumbles Lost | 2 | 0 |
| Penalties | 12-87 | 11-119 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Chandler – Mencl 17-85, Douglas 20-71, Ochoa 9-46, Ormita 1-9. Hamilton – Cole 9-30, Brown 5-20, Roebuck 1-2, Roye Oliver 1-(minus 1), Vaita 6-(minus 5).
Passing
Chandler – Mencl 15-19-0, 188 yards. Hamilton – Vaita 14-27-0, 191 yards.
Receiving
Chandler – Sprott 4-94, Spann 4-60, Jones 2-15, Ormita 3-11, Douglas 1-7, Gray 1-1. Hamilton – Roye Oliver 6-96, Roman Oliver 3-34, Duncan 2-30, Riley 2-29, Cole 1-2.
Sound Off
Chandler QB Will Mencl on the momentum the Wolves took early: “This team usually starts fast. The defense did a great job in the first half shutting them down and finishing this game like we didn’t do last time. It just means more.”
Chandler RB Chase Ochoa on his production in the second half: “The O-Line did great just coming out to the second level and blocking their linebackers. It made it easy to fall for eight after first contact.”
Chandler head coach Ty Wisdom on what makes this team special: “The kids have bought in to our team. We talked all week about execution over emotion tonight. Our kids were very disciplined tonight.”
Next Week
Hamilton (11-1) saw its season end with its first defeat. The Huskies finished the year with exactly 600 points (50 ppg) and will likely be among the favorites next season with the return of quarterback Jax Sculley (currently injured), the Oliver brothers, running back Skyler Cole, and cornerback Keaton Fields.
Chandler (10-2) will face Basha for the title. The Bears are led by Chris McDonald, who is in his eighth year with the school. Basha took the Open title in 2022. Basha (11-1) only lost to Hamilton (in Week 9). On Saturday, the Bears handed Liberty its first in-state loss in three years. Basha kicked a field goal with two minutes remaining to break a tie. The Bears have won the last four meetings against the Wolves (all in the past three years), which includes an Open semifinal win in 2022.
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