Higley's Branson Heywood got off to good starts in each half of Friday night's 5A San Tan Region showdown with unbeaten Campo Verde with a pair of scoring plays. The biggest was the one that opened up the scoring floodgates in the second half.

Heywood, a junior wide receiver, returned the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and that led to a 21-point lead Campo Verde couldn't quite overcome in a 52-30 win for the Knights at Campo Verde.

Higley (6-2) won its sixth game in a row and is tied for first in the region at 3-0 with Higley district rival Williams Field. Campo Verde, which was the last unbeaten team in 5A, is now 7-1 and 2-1 in region. 

Playoffs are awaiting both schools either in 5A or the Open Division depending on the results of the final two weeks. Higley, despite an 0-2 start, is focused on an Open Division berth first and foremost.

"I know teams are not lining up wanting to face Chandler in the Open Division, but that's the goal we're after," Higley coach Eddy Zubey said. "We got off to a good start the second half, but then had trouble on offense for a few series and they came back. We got things going on offense again in the end."

Higley was paced by junior quarterback Kai Millner, who passed for 301 yards (unofficially) and five touchdowns. Millner struck quickly with the aforementioned Heywood. They connected on a 37-yard TD just more than two minutes into the contest. Millner added scoring tosses of 49 yards, 15, 12 and 38. Three of those were in the second half. Two were to Desert Ridge transfer Isaiah Eastman and one each to Logan Mack and Skyline transfer Zach Kriens.

The Heywood kick return and Mack scoring reception boosted Higley's lead to 31-10 midway through the third period. A 50-yard TD run by Campo Verde's 1,000-yard rusher Caden Calloway cut the margin to 31-17with 3:22 left in the third. Calloway rushed for 134 yards on 14 carries, his seventh, 100-yard game of the season.

Eastman's xecond TD boosted the margin to 21 again with 9:28 left, but Campo made Higley sweat again with back-to-back scores two minutes part. A pair of 80-yard drives of two plays each cut the deficit to 38-30 with 5:18 to go.

Campo Verde quarterback Zach Herrera, who threw three touchdown passes, connected from 13 yards to Danny McFarland and 40 yards to Ryan Hutchens. Herrera threw for just 92 yards through three quarters, but finished with an 137-yard fourth quarter completing 4 of 4 attempts. McFarland had six catches for 150 yards and two TD receptions.

Higley picked up a rushing touchdown from Perry transfer Peyton Hill with 2:50 left on his longest run of the night -- 18 yards. Campo fumbled quickly on its next possession ending its comeback bid. 

"We dug ourselves a hole, but we didn't give up," Campo Verde coach Max Ragsdale said.

Higley hosts Gilbert next week while Campo Verde heads to Williams Field with the region title still up for grabs among Higley, Campo and Williams Field.