Someday, in a perfect world, Benjamin Franklin and Pusch Ridge will meet in a championship final but this is not a perfect world. Instead, the Chargers and Lions will meet in the semifinal round for the third time with Pusch Ridge knocking Franklin out of the playoffs in 2017 and again last year when the Chargers were the top seed in the state. This year could be different, especially after the Chargers beat the Lions 35-14 to end the regular season two weeks ago.

No. 1 Franklin beat No. 8 Show Low 21-0 Friday night and No. 5 Pusch Ridge knocked off No. 13 Florence 51-38 to set up another semifinal clash next Saturday at Westwood High School. The other semifinal will feature No. 2 Valley Christian and No. 3 Round Valley in a game to be played at Mesa High School. Both games are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. on the NFHS Network. The championship game is slated for Saturday, Nov. 29 at Mountain Pointe High School.

Pusch Ridge junior quarterback Race Pinneo connected with junior Levi Adcock for four touchdowns including a 16-yard toss to out the Lions up 7-0 with 7:48 left in the first. The Gophers responded with a long drive but the drive stalled deep in Pusch Ridge territory on a failed fourth-and-goal situation. Cameron Shoaff scored to put Pusch Ridge up 14-0 with 9:50 left in the half and then the Lions scored on a safety on the ensuing kickoff to go up 16-0.

Shoaff put Pusch Ridge up 23-0 with 6:46 in the half. The Gophers scored after Brody Ramirez hit Zayden Cundiff to make it 23-8 with 3:47 in the half but Pinneo connected with Adcock again with nine second left before the half to make it 30-8. That lead seemed safe but Ramirez scored from close to cut the lead down to 30-14 with 7:20 left in the third. Pinneo responded by hitting Adcock again to make it 37-14 with 3:11 left in the third but Wyatt Stenson collected an 86-yard kick return to cut the lead back down to 37-22.

Pinneo hit Adcock again to make it 44-22 with 11:53 left in the game and then Pinneo ran the ball in himself to make it 51-22 with 6:39 left. Brody Ramirez connected with Soldier Blouir to cut the lead back down to 51-30 with 4:17 left and then a successful onside kick led to a pass from Ramirez to Kaidin Valle to cut the lead down to 51-38 with 2:48 left. The Chargers got the back one last time but the Chargers were unable to score.

Florence ended 7-5 and Pusch Ridge improved to 10-2. Franklin is still undefeated at 12-0. 6A No. 1 Hamilton (10-0), 5A No. 1 Desert Edge (11-0), 5A No. 3 Desert View (11-0) and 4A No. 1 Arcadia (11-0) are the other undefeated teams left in the playoffs.

 

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