Salpointe visited Marana undefeated and ranked No. 3 in the 4A Conference, and the Lancers led 10-0 early, but the Tigers scored 44 straight points the rest of the way to show why the team is ranked No. 2 in the 6A Conference.

Freshman quarterback Isla Collins put Salpointe (8-1) up 7-0 with 9:10 left in the first on a 24-yard dash around the outside and Andie Tkalcevic made it 10-0 with 4:59 left on a 24-yard field goal but Marana (12-0) responded with an 86-yard drive, capped by a short TD pass from freshman Isabella Garcia to Sadie Brown to cut the lead down to 10-7 with only a few seconds left in the opening quarter.

It was the first of six touchdown passes from Garcia and she turned three Lancer turnovers into backbreaking scores after senior kicker Jimena Resendiz Hernandez connected on a 34-yard field goal to tie the game up at 10-10 with 4:46 left in the half.

An interception from Brown one play later gave the Tigers a short field and Garcia hit Malaysia Roebuck to put Marana up 17-10 with 4:33 left and that’s how the half ended.

The Tigers came out of the break and Garcia hit Brown for 62 yards to set up another short TD pass, this time to fellow freshman Sophia Silverstein, to put Marana up 24-10 with 9:55 left in the third quarter. Silverstein picked up an interception two plays later and Garcia hit Brown from four yards out to make it 31-10 with 8:40 left. Roebuck caught a TD pass to make it 37-0 with 3:44 left and an interception from Brooklyn Griffin led to another TD catch from Roebuck to make it 44-10 with 3:28 left.

Garcia finished with 327 yards passing (37-54) with six TDs, Roebuck had three TDs with 121 yards receiving on 10 catches, Brown finished with 134 yards receiving on 12 catches and two TDs, Silverstein had 45 yards receiving and a score and Mazie Brown had 34 yards receiving.

In a fast-moving game, once the Lancers fell behind due to multiple turnovers, it became difficult to advance the ball in a methodical fashion and the game got out of reach quickly but the team has a few days to regroup with Flowing Wells (3-6) visiting next Tuesday. Marana hosts Xavier (8-4) Monday night in an important 6A Central Region game.

THE PLAYS