Kamaron Holloway is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication Student assigned to cover Scottsdale Christian Academy for AZPreps365.com

SCOTTSDALE -- With a 247-yard passing performance accompanied by five touchdowns, senior quarterback Sean Helgeson led undefeated Scottsdale Christian to a dominant 49-14 victory over Camp Verde on Friday, capping an undefeated regular season on Senior Night.

The Eagles accumulated five of their seven touchdowns through the air. Spreading the ball through an assortment of receivers, the aerial attack proved too much for the Camp Verde defense to handle.

“Coming into this game, I was more relaxed than I was last week,” Helgeson said. “We started a lot slower last week than we did this week, so coming into this game with a mindset to stay calm and go through my progression helped me relax in the pocket.”

Camp Verde started the game strong, striking first after a fumbled handoff by the Eagles. The Cowboys capitalized on the turnover, scoring on a 1-yard TD run by junior running back Justin Smith, making the score 7-0 with 7:57 left in the first quarter.

Scottsdale Christian answered with a scoring drive of their own that was set up by freshman running back Ben Watkins, who totaled 106 all-purpose yards on kickoff returns alone, as he put the Eagles in excellent field position with a 52-yard kick return.

Three plays later, the Eagles scored on a 30-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Isaiah Steffen, his first of three on the night, tying the game 7-7 with 6:54 remaining in the first quarter. This began the frustrations on defense for Camp Verde.

“We’ve known for a while our secondary just has to play better,” Cowboys coach Aaron Gronwald said. “The biggest thing isn’t that they are more talented or athletic than us; we have very raw guys that still don’t understand how to use their eyes.”

The average yardage for touchdown passes thrown by Helgeson was 30 yards.

“There wasn’t a single coverage we ran tonight where they should have been looking at the quarterback,” Gronwald said. “When they get that much separation on a deep ball, especially when we have the same caliber of athletes, it's something about the eyes; we didn’t keep our edge or have enough effort tackling.”

A tightly contested game slowly slipped through the grasp of the Cowboys. The Eagles' offense began to soar with a 66-yard touchdown pass from Helgeson to Steffen with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter, doubling the score to 14-7.

Like a bad habit, Helgeson and Steffen connected yet again, this time for the trifecta. Following a strong defensive stand, Helgeson found Steffen for their third touchdown of the game, a 5-yard strike that extended the lead to 21-7 with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter.

“One of our star receivers is out, so we have to step up and fill that position,” Steffen said. “It’s a great feeling to play like that. Sean and I grew up together and came to SCA around the same time. We have a great relationship.

“Last year was his first time playing quarterback, and it was my first time starting as a receiver, so we have that connection, and we always talk and hang out.”

Steffan finished the game with three receptions for 101 yards, along with his three touchdowns.

Everett Salazar and Dom Dickerson both added to the collection of points Friday night. Salazar scored on a 17-yard TD, making the score 28-7 with 4:22 left in the second quarter. Dickerson followed that with his own 2-yard touchdown catch with 49 seconds left in the second quarter, pushing the lead to 35-7.

Dickerson finished the game with 113 all-purpose yards, while Salazar finished with 76 yards rushing and the final touchdown of the game, scoring on a nine-yard run, making the score 49-14 with 11:20 left in the fourth quarter.

As both teams get ready for the playoffs, Scottsdale Christian coach Mike Sheahan looks forward to the challenge.

“Looking forward to next week, we play ALA, who is a really good, well-coached team,”  Sheahan said. “It's going to be a dogfight for sure. They are good at what they do. If we play good defense, be ready for anything, and score points on offense without shooting ourselves in the foot, we will be fine.”

Scottsdale Christian (9-0, 5-0) will travel to play Arizona Lutheran Academy (8-1, 4-0) next Friday at 7 p.m. 

Camp Verde (7-2, 4-1) will travel to Parker (6-2, 2-1) next Friday at 7 p.m