Mesquite shuts out local rival Gilbert to earn first victory of the season

After a rough Week One outing against Cactus, two-time defending 4A state champions Mesquite bounced back with a 20-0 victory against crosstown rivals Gilbert Friday night. For Mesquite, the win not only featured the first career victory for senior Gerardo Saenz as the starting quarterback, but also sophomore kicker Tegan Keil becoming the first female in school history to score a point.

After a quiet opening quarter, poor ball management from the Tigers was the story of the second quarter. Gilbert sophomore quarterback Danny Hesse threw three interceptions in the quarter which led to all 13 of the Wildcats’ first-half points. The first two picks set the Wildcats up nicely, giving Mesquite goal-to-go situations, while the third occurred on the Mesquite 7-yard line, killing the only promising drive of the game for Gilbert. 

“Maybe we should have made it a little more simpler for (Hesse) and just ran the ball,” Gilbert coach Derek Zellner said. “But, you know, we are who we are. We grip and rip—and we have great running backs, but we trust them not only running the ball, but we trust them catching (too). If I didn’t trust in Danny throwing the ball, we wouldn’t throw the ball.”

For Mesquite, Saenz finished 5-of-14 passing with 93 yards and a touchdown in his first career victory.

The game also featured a breakout performance for senior running back Blake Corner, who ran for 139 yards on only 15 attempts and secured a key fourth down sack on the defensive side of the ball.

“(His performance) didn’t really surprise me,” Mesquite coach Scott Hare said. “I think Blake has the potential to be one of the best players in our conference (and) I’ve been telling him that.” 

The sentiment was echoed by his teammate Andrew Morris, who quote-tweeted a postgame interview of Saenz with the caption “Best RB in the state… y’all will find out soon,” 

Morris himself continued his torrid season pace, as the Marshall University commit added an interception, two more touchdowns and 61 receiving yards to his ledger. Morris has now scored three of the Wildcats’ four touchdowns on the season.

“We’re leaning on Andrew and obviously when we lean on him he comes through,” Hare said. “He’s a guy we expect that from and he expects it from himself. So we give him the opportunity to make those plays, and he does.”

Another star of note was sophomore kicker Tegan Keil, who became the first female in program history to ever score a point, going 2-for-2 on extra-point attempts. (The third PAT attempt was a botched snap that prevented a kick from ever occurring.)

“I think it’s great for Tegan and really nobody works harder than she does,” coach Hare said. “She has to come out at 5:50 in the morning and just kick… she works really hard so I’m proud of the fact that she got to go out there tonight and prove all the work that she’s been doing.”

For Mesquite, the victory proves that the Wildcats can improve after a 56-6 loss the prior week, but also shows that they have a ways to go to regain their 2020 form. 

“We came to practice this week and we worked our butts off,” Corner said. “And it’s gotta be every week. We gotta keep working harder and harder and harder every week.”

Mesquite (2-0) takes the field next at 7 p.m. Friday against Combs (1-1) in the Wildcats home opener. Gilbert (0-2) will search for their first victory when they travel to face Fairfax (0-2) at the same time.