Adam Schwager

Mesquite takes care of business in the first round against Benjamin Franklin

No. 3 Mesquite’s bid for a 4A three-peat kicked off on Friday night with a 26-9 victory over No. 14 Benjamin Franklin at home in Gilbert.

Benjamin Franklin (6-5) and coach Dave Jefferies came into Friday’s matchup knowing that something had to change after Mesquite (8-3) dominated their regular season matchup 47-10 just two weeks prior. 

Jefferies decided to implement an incredibly conservative gameplan, which helped them dominate the time of possession early. The Chargers ran 18 offensive plays in the first quarter, while holding the Wildcats to only three. Of their 33 first-half plays, only five were pass attempts, and two of those passes were thrown by non-quarterbacks on trick play attempts.

“We have to play mistake-free to even be in that game,” Jefferies said. “We just were trying to clock-grind them out and keep the ball away from them because we know they’re dangerous when they have the ball.”

The Chargers strategy worked early with some success, taking an initial 3-0 lead in the middle of the second quarter. However, Mesquite responded with touchdowns on back-to-back drives, the latter of which came with :44 left after senior running back Blake Corner converted a 4th-and-15 opportunity with an 18-yard reception from quarterback Gerardo Saenz. Corner finished the game with 134 yards on 19 carries along with a touchdown. 

“(That drive) was huge because we got the ball back (to start the second half),” Mesquite coach Scott Hare said. “It also just propels you forward for the next week on a two-minute drill.” 

Once Mesquite took a double-digit lead, Benjamin Franklin’s protect-the-ball and run-the-clock strategy was much less effective. The Chargers turned the ball over on three consecutive drives to start the second half, helping the Wildcats jump out to their 26-3 lead.

With the game all but decided, Benjamin Franklin added six points with 1:52 remaining by jumping on a Saenz fumble in the end zone. Mesquite won by a final score of 26-9. 

Improvements in the Benjamin Franklin pass defense made the rematch between these two teams a lot closer than the original game. In their first matchup, Saenz finished 17-of-22 passing with 268 yards and three passing touchdowns. On Friday, Saenz only completed 7-of-19 for 145 yards and two passing touchdowns. 

“I didn’t play the best that I should’ve,” Saenz said. “Definitely one of my worst games ever.”

Both touchdown passes were thrown to senior wide receiver Andrew Morris, who brought in four receptions for 103 yards, including a highlight-reel 57-yard touchdown reception where Morris caught the ball off a Benjamin Franklin defender’s helmet. 

“He’s a great person to have out there because he’s just able to make plays and catch the ball wherever I throw it,” Saenz said.

Morris thought his performance had room for improvement.

“I think I did alright—I’d probably grade it a B-,” Morris said. “I’ve got hopefully three more games to make it perfect.”

After their win, Mesquite will host a quarterfinals matchup against No. 11 Lee Williams (8-3) on Friday, Nov. 26 after the Volunteers’ upset victory at No. 6 Apache Junction. The two teams haven’t faced each other this season and have two shared opponents. 

Both teams defeated Apache Junction while Mesquite beat No. 8 Prescott 37-7 and Lee Williams lost to Prescott 20-19. Lee Williams will travel over 200 miles from Kingman, Ariz. to the greater Phoenix area for the second week in a row. 

“I don’t know much about Lee Williams,” Hare said. “At this point I’m gonna watch a lot of our film, I’m gonna watch a lot of their film and I’ll have a better feeling about how I feel after I watch all that.”