A Master Class for flag football, it was not.

The tempo was interrupted by penalties, the slick ball made for stagnant offenses and only one touchdown was scored all game.

And that touchdown? It came when one of the country’s best wide receivers lined up at center.

Yes, it was that type of game. Odd and stumbling.

What the 6A flag football state championship was, however, was two teams leaning on defenses to get stop after stop, sending the offenses to the sidelines frustrated and an intense rematch from last year’s championship game.

It led to No. 3 Hamilton winning its second straight title over Red Mountain, this time a 7-0 squeaker to finish off an undefeated season at Corona del Sol.

“Offensively, it was a struggle but you gotta make at least one play,” Hamilton coach Matt Stone said. “We actually we made a few plays. Even when we weren’t scoring we were at least flipping the field and making them go 80 or 90 yards, and with our defense we’ll take that every possession.

“It’s Red Mountain. I do not expect blow outs with Red Mountain. They have tremendous heart and leadership, and the best coaching I’ve seen. I expected a close game.”

The Huskies (21-0) scored on their first drive of the game, a possession that lasted 10 plays and was finished off with Samaya Taylor-Jenkins lining up at center, snapping it, and doing a quick out route for the 2-yard score.

Taylor-Jenkins, who was dealing with a leg injury, wasn’t targeted on the drive’s first nine plays, but when she was moved from the outside to the interior line, she was able to shake the defender quickly on a 2-yard out for the score.

Taylor-Jenkins is considered one of the best wide receivers, if not the best, in the nation. Lining up at center was a new package designed out of necessity and a little bit of desperation in this game when she wasn’t at 100 percent.

“Never,” Hamilton coach Matt Stone said when asked how many times she lined up at center prior to this game. “Not once in four years. It was our wrinkle for this game. We designed a package of plays with Samaya at center (because the availability of Jalene Johnson in the postseason was in doubt) then decided to keep it in our pocket until the end.

“The wet conditions and her injury made us more hesitant to use it, but we really liked the matchups it gave us.”

It was the only score – at least the only one that wasn’t wiped out by a penalty – and the Hamilton defense made it hold up behind the play of junior rusher Demi Woods, who had three sacks unofficially, and senior linebacker Asia Denson, who had a vital interception.

Woods’ final sack of the game came on Red Mountain’s final drive when the Mountain Lions’ attempted to tie game after the Huskies missed a field goal.

Red Mountain (19-2) started on its own 14 with 2:33 left in the game. Senior quarterback Korey Roberts was moved to wide receiver and sophomore quarterback Josslyn Navarro took over at quarterback.

Woods was in her space off the whistle and secured the flag pool at the 2-yard to essentially seal the game.

“The defense was awesome, and we took them down,” Woods said. “It’s all that matters. We put in the time, watching film and just kept giving effort.”

Denson’s interception came early in the second half. The Hamilton offense went three-and-out on the opening drive of the half, and the Mountain Lions crossed the 35-yard line for one of the few times all game.

Roberts threw the ball to the flat late, and Denson jumped the route and was able to return the ball to the Red Mountain 26.

“I was just doing what we saw on film,” she said. “I just crashed down on it and tried to take it to the house. We played great as a defense. We didn’t come into the season like we were going to win it. We had a clean slate so getting another one in my senior year means a lot.”

The Mountain Lion’s Audrey Pacheco nabbed her second interception of the game to keep Hamilton for adding on, but Deson’s play flipped the field position game, which was huge in a one-score game.

Red Mountain, which lost 24-17 in the finals last year, came up short but pushed the Huskies more than any other team all year long. The efforts and standards set by seniors like Roberts, rusher Ava Klene and linebacker Cadence McCandless laid the foundation of the program’s success.

“The effort was there and the intensity is what you dream of,” Red Mountain coach Julian Madison said. “We’re getting better. It became more physical as it got intense.

“They fought as hard as they could. We tried to make the QB think. It worked for the most part. We didn’t do enough on offense. I am proud of my girls.”

In the end, no matter the tempo, the amount of penalties or where the players lined up, Hamilton has now won two straight state titles and 38 consecutive games since falling in the semifinals in 2023.

“This is a really special group,” Stone said. “I’m not motivated by rings and trophies. It is about the relationships. I don’t have any daughters, but having these girls in my life makes it so much more. Winning state is the goal, but it is the memories along the way I hope everyone remember more”