There was a lot of never-say-die Friday night at Michael Eubanks Stadium on the campus of Seton Catholic High School.

From both participants- Seton and Mesquite. The evidence was seven lead changes -- all in the second half. The last possession won out as Seton kicker Dominic Cosentino delivered a 40-yard field goal as time expired lifting the Sentinels to a 41-39 victory over Mesquite in the 4A Desert Sky Region opener for both schools.

Seton began the winning drive, down 39-38, without a timeout from its 35. Senior quarterback Joey Lalicata completed three of six passes  -- good for 13, 15 and 11 yards to move Seton to Mesquite's 26. Two of the catches were by wide out Josh Hansell and the other by sophomore standout Mikey Castro.

Facing third-and-10 at the 26, Seton opted to run the ball  for a few yards and get off a field-goal attempt. The ball ended up on the left hash and with under 20 seconds left. Seton rush edthe field-goal unit on the field. It was hectic, but the Sentinels got the kick off with a second or two to spare and Cosentino lofted in through the uprights for the win.

"We were trying to get the ball situated in the middle of the field," Cosentino, who added one of the Sentinels' three interceptions, said. "It didn't work out. I  didn't think about it. I had to make a kick and I didn't have time to think about where the ball was going to be."

Making the final play a tad more impressive was back-up long snapper Austin Bennett was called on to launch the snap with the pressure as heated as it gets in a pinch.. 

Seton coach Pete Wahlheim applauded both Bennett and Cosentino for the fine execution.

"It couldn't have been better," Wahlheim, who is enjoying his second tour of duty as Sentinels coach this season and celebrated his birthday in style, said. We just managed to hang in there. It was ugly and dirty at times, but somehow the kids kept believing. We had to work on body language at halftime. We came out in a better frame of mind."

Mesquite shows its disappointment after Seton's game-winning field goal on the game's final play. (AzPreps365 photo)

Seton improved to 4-1 and notched its third win in a row while Mesquite dropped to 4-2. Seton spotted Mesquite a 19-0 lead with eight minutes left in the first half. Bend-don't break defense was on display to the max by Seton. The Sentinels were outgained mammothly, 640-259. They gave up 405 of those yards in the first half.

That disparity, however, was neutralized by seven Mesquite turnovers -- four fumbles and three interceptions. One of the fumbles was recovered for a touchdown and one of the INT's was a long pick-six. Seton had three miscues of its own. 

Seton appeared on the brink of victory with a 38-32 lead with 1:37 left. Less than 30 seconds earlier, Seton got the last of its takeaways and used it to take the lead. A high snap from center couldn't be corraled by Mesquite quarterback Ty Thompson inside Mesquite's 20. The ball skipped away to the end zone where . Seton's Sam Zadel fell on it for an easy six points.

Mesquite then showed resolve of its own. Facing a fourth-and-15 at its 27, the Wildcats came up with a 48-yard completion over the middle between quarterback Thompson and running back Chris Hintze (three TDs, two rushing and a pick-6). A face-mask penalty tacked on another 15 yards and three plays later Thompson scored from 1 yard out. The extra point was good and with 1:11 to go Mesquite was up 39-38, seemingly dodging a loss seven turnovers more often than not would be one's fate.

Scoring plays for Mesquite went to Hintze as mentioned with runs of 10 and 11 yards and an interception return for a TD from 29 yards out. Hintze rushed for 160 yards on 15 carries, most of that in the second half. He also caught two passes for 52 yards. Wide out Jacob Walker hauled in two TD passes from Thompson (25 and 22 yards). Thompson finished the night completing 23 of 41 attempts for 391 yards. He added 82 yards rushing on 12 attempts. 

Seton got a pair of TD receptions from senior wide receiver Michael Hanson (30 yards and 7 yards). The most electrifying play of the game was an 80-yard interception return by Castro, who by all rights had no business going 80 yards for a score. His speed and deceptiveness - plenty of zig-zagging the final 40 yards - was a sight to behold. Lalicata added a 1-yard TD plunge and completed 15 of 24 passes for 188 yards.