Caleb Harris is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Glendale High School for AZPreps365.com. 

Trailing by two scores late in the third quarter, senior Santiago Navarrette provided a spark Glendale High School desperately needed, sprinting past every defender to haul in an over-the-shoulder catch for a 55-yard touchdown. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the highlight play was erased due to a holding penalty.

Ten penalties and small mistakes cost Glendale (1-5, 0-2 4A Black Canyon) in its 27-23 loss to Greenway High School (2-5, 2-0 4A Black Canyon) Friday night in Glendale.

“I think we did good,” Navarrette said. “It’s just little mistakes. That’s something we can fix easy. It's the little things that hurt us.”

Despite the loss, Navarrette looked to be the best player on the field, as he has been most of the season. The third-leading receiver in the 4A class added 147 yards to his season total. Navarrette dominated the second half, scoring a 41-yard touchdown and 125 of his total yards after halftime.

After the offense only threw for 80 yards in the first half, head coach Rob York adjusted to the defense and put the ball in his best player’s hands.

“All week we were assuming that Greenway was going to put two guys on him,” York said. “They did a little bit in that first half, but once we got clicking they kind of freed him up a little bit and we started looking his way a little bit more.”

The first half was tightly contested at 13-13 with each team struggling to set itself apart. The Demons looked completely different coming out of the break, earning tough stops and two straight touchdowns.

On Glendale’s first drive of the half, the offense marched inside Greenway’s 10-yard line. Noticing a one-on-one for his tight end on the boundary, junior quarterback Michael Anguiano lobbed up a pass that was intercepted.

The Cardinals’ defense created stops on three straight downs, before facing what seemed to be a routine punt on fourth down. Backed up in his own end zone, the Demons’ punter and top wide receiver Kai Becker caught the snap, saw pressure and took off. He showed his speed, sprinting past every Glendale defender for an 85-yard touchdown. Becker also had 110 yards and a touchdown as a receiver.

“We were expecting him to play quarterback, so that kind of threw our game plan off a little bit,” York said. “He’s a good athlete. I thought our kids did a pretty good job on it, especially down here towards the end of the game.”

Stopping the pass takes contribution from all three levels of the defense. The pass rush shined at times, like on a seven-man blitz where a swarm of Cardinals forced a fumble that Julian Gloria recovered for a touchdown. But the rest of the night, they struggled to generate pressure or stop the run.

According to York, halftime wasn’t enough to revitalize a defensive front that allowed 231 rushing yards.

“We just came out too flat in the first half up front,” York said. “Then came out in the second half, and the same thing. We were just really flat.”

One player who did bring intensity was Bryce Jones. The outside cornerback was all over the field for the Cardinals, recording tackles and pass deflections. Jones said he believes a week of practice will help Glendale prepare for homecoming next week against Marcos De Niza, a team that averages 437.8 yards per game.

“Little mistakes like watching the ball and tackling,” Jones said. “Just simple stuff we need to work on. We’ll get back to it next game.”