PRESCOTT — Rianna Aguilar rushed for two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score with 22 seconds left to put No. 1-ranked Prescott on top and hand rival Flagstaff their first loss of the season in a 17-14 thriller Wednesday night.

The Badgers (11-2, 4-0 4A Grand Canyon) spent much of the evening shooting themselves in the foot with three interceptions, one of which was on their first possession near the goal line, and two touchdowns were called back due to penalties.

But Prescott was resilient enough to stay focused throughout the contest and come away with a victory thanks to some standout play by Aguilar, who said she felt a “mountain of emotion” after her last-second touchdown.

“I’m proud of our team,” Aguilar said, adding that she was quickly concerned about a flag thrown on her final score, seeing it lying on the ground when she turned around. The team was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct call for celebrating in the endzone.

“The flag, honestly, I didn’t know what to think. I was so excited the ball just ended up flipping out of my hands. I wanted to celebrate with my team, and I’m super glad they didn’t call the touchdown back,” Aguilar said.

The senior quarterback was forced to mostly play at running back on Wednesday night after spending the last few weeks with an injury to her throwing hand. Freshman Riley Hart, sophomore Lucy Zembik and junior Brinkley Larson have been filing in during her absence.

Aguilar did score as the quarterback on the final play.

“We had a climb in the past few weeks with me hurting my hand. It set us back a little bit on offense. But, I think with Riley [Hart], we got all that rhythm back. It helps a lot with me at running back because I can help guide her, even though I’m not the one throwing it,” Aguilar said. “I haven’t been able to practice for the last couple of weeks because of my hand, but we got through it, came up with a game plan and executed it.”

In the first quarter, Hart threw an interception on a great defensive play by Flagstaff’s Ryleigh Conklin in the endzone to turn away Prescott’s first chance at points, but the No. 5-ranked Eagles (10-1, 3-1 4A Grand Canyon) surrendered a score to Aguilar on a 29-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 at the 11:48 mark of the second period.

Flagstaff coach Tyrone Johnson said his team was “resilient,” especially on defense.

“The whole mantra of bend but don’t break, [that was us] for the majority of the game. We had some big stops which allowed us to do something on the offensive end. We had a great effort,” Johnson said.

Prescott averages 23.3 points per game this season offensively.

Later in the second, the Eagles would answer on a nifty 78-yard touchdown strike from quarterback Cailee Culwell, who found Emma Tewes open, catching the ball behind a Prescott defender and then sprinting for a score to tie it, 7-7, with 8:15 left in the first half.

Prescott kicker Mallory Walsh hit a 32-yard field goal with 15 seconds to go before halftime to give the Badgers a 10-7 lead heading into the locker room.

In the second half, Flagstaff took a 14-10 lead at the 2:52 mark in the third quarter after Culwell found Donna Carasco Gonzalez for a 43-yard touchdown pass. There was some controversy on the play as it appeared Gonzalez’ flag had fallen off near the sideline, and stopped running, but when no whistle blew, she kept running and was awarded the touchdown.

Prescott coaches were irate, and were flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct after the fact, but the play stood. The Badgers trailed for much of the second half until the final score by Aguilar.

“I thought they gave great effort on both sides of the ball. Prescott, as we know, is a quality team. They’ve been preseason favorites since they went to the ship last year and they returned so many players,” Johnson said. “We came out and battled and showed we belong in the upper echelon. I think that’s what it really means, this game, that we can compete at that level.”

UP NEXT

Flagstaff wraps up the regular season with three straight home games, the first against Monument Valley on Thursday, Oct. 23. Results were unavailable at press time.

The Eagles are scheduled to host Mingus (Oct. 28) and cross-town rival Coconino on Oct. 30.

Prescott has a road trip to Estrella Foothills (Oct. 27) before hosting No. 11-ranked Bradshaw Mountain on Oct. 29. The wrap up the regular season in Kingman against No. 13 Lee Williams.

The 4A Girls Flag Football State Championships are scheduled to get underway Nov. 12.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on X at @AzPreps365Brian or on Facebook at @Five2MediaWorks. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.