There is still one more game and one more goal left for Basha football.
But in Friday night’s semifinal, the Bears did the one thing they had not been able to do since arriving as one of the state’s best programs in 2021. Basha beat Liberty, and the Chandler school won in the trenches – where the Lions dominated in their last three wins in the rivalry.
Basha’s front seven answered the challenge when Liberty had first and goal at the one yard line midway through the fourth quarter of a tie game. Senior linebacker Eli Cramer-Cronin punctuated the goal line stand by returning senior quarterback Jayden Pico’s fourth down fumble to the Bears’ 25.
The tidal wave of momentum broke through the vaunted Liberty defense enough to allow for junior Mikey Barth to hit a 38-yard field goal with 2:09 remaining. Basha (11-1) got one more stop to knock out the two-time defending Open Division champions in this Nov. 29 Open semifinal at Corona del Sol for the 19-16 win.
“Listen, we’re the two best defenses in the state. We have been playing that way all year. Our kids had something to prove,” Basha Coach Chris McDonald said. “They’re tough kids that compete and give their all. It’s at the six inch line and our kids won up front. That changed the game.”
On the way to its first Open Division title in 2022, Basha had to get past longtime kingpin Chandler in the Open semifinals. To win its second Open title, the Bears will have to beat a much different Chandler program next week.
No. 2 Basha faces No. 4 Chandler (10-2) at 6 p.m. Dec. 6 at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe. The Wolves knocked off top seed Chandler Hamilton (11-1) 30-17 in Saturday’s other semifinal.
“I’m going to let these kids enjoy their Sunday. But listen, our kids are going to be locked in and dialed to play. We’re not finished,” McDonald said.
Liberty entered the semifinal with a lot of recent history on its side. The Lions beat Basha in the 2021 Open quarterfinals, 2022 regular season and 2024 Open Division final.
Since Scottsdale Saguaro’s 43-42 Open semifinal win in 2022, Liberty had a 34-game winning streak against Arizona opponents. Only one of those wins was by less than 10 points.
“I just love this group. I hate it for them to go out this way,” Liberty Coach Colin Thomas said. “Their commitment to each other and the brotherhood makes it really fun to coach them. We’re very blessed to have the kids we have. I just hate it for them because, again, it’s our job to get them there.”
While the Bears bottled up the Lions offense most of the night, Liberty (10-2) was poised to take a fourth quarter lead on its second sustained drive of the game.
After Basha scored on the final play of the third quarter to tie the showdown at 16, Liberty drove the ball 79 yards in the first six minutes of the fourth.
Senior quarterback Brayden Stevens hit junior receiver Braxton Huynh for 42 yards on third down to flip the field. A Basha personal foul on the tackle set up the Lions at the Bears’ 12.
Pico checked in and ran to his right while junior running back Jayden Sanchez ran a jet sweep motion in the opposite direction. Pico kept it and scampered all the way to the 1.
On first and goal from the 1, Basha stuffed senior running back T.J. Foilefutu on a dive from the h-back spot. The Bears were offsides on the next three snaps.
With the nose of the ball nearly touching the goal line, Basha stopped Foilefutu again on second down and the Lions called time just before running a play where Sanchez dove and appeared to break the plane. Sanchez took a conventional handoff on third down and was ruled down before fumbling.
On fourth down, Pico faked a jet sweep, stumbled changing direction and fumbled lunging for the goal line. Cramer-Cronin ran for 24 yards on the recovery and Basha’s confidence soared.
“We had our chance there to go up a score and put it on our defense to get a stop. They’ve done that many times. We didn’t get it done. Credit to them,” Thomas said. “We’ve been amazing in (short yardage near the goal line). We’ve done a lot of good things. We tried to trust our players and put the ball in spots from the 1 yard line that we thought we could get in. We had four chances and we could not do it. Credit to them. Obviously in hindsight could I do better down there (calling plays)? Sure. I wish I did.”
Junior quarterback Jake Rogers led the winning drive. He’d run the offense since senior starter Brodie Vehrs was injured in the 28-12 loss to Hamilton Oct. 24.
Rogers said he learned Vehrs was cleared to play and would start against Liberty late in the week.
“We wanted to give him a shot. It just didn’t work out the way we wanted,” McDonald said. “We know Jake’s a player. The decision to go with Brodie was, I’ve always been a firm believer that a guy doesn’t lose his job based on injury. He was back and fully healthy. We wanted to give him redemption against Liberty from the state championship because he’s a competitor.”
Despite starting drives at the Liberty 25, and the Basha 46 and 40 in the first half, Basha’s only points came when senior Kaedyn Smith blocked senior Conor Martinez’s punt through the back of the end zone.
Vehrs hit a couple of passes but fumbled twice.
Liberty took a 7-2 lead into the break after Stevens tossed a boundary screen to Huynh, who weaved for a 25-yard touchdown.
Rogers came in to start the second half. Basha’s first drive stalled and a snap over the punter’s head and out of the end zone to give Liberty a 9-2 lead.
On fourth down at midfield, Rogers hit receiver Jaden Baldwin on a quick slant and the junior raced 50 yards for the tying touchdown.
“We’ve been working together for a while now. Just knowing his speed and his abilities and realizing that they couldn’t cover our guys. Our guys were going to get the ball every time,” Rogers said.
That assertion was not true on the next Bears drive. Rogers threw in senior safety Zeth Thues’ area off a play fake and paid for it.
Thues’ 35-yard pick six and the extra point put Liberty in front 16-9 with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
Rogers was resilient, bouncing back quickly to tie the game on the final play of the third quarter.
Basha snapped the ball with one second left in the quarter and appeared to surprise the Liberty defense. Baldwin ran a fly pattern just inside the sideline and caught the 31-yard dime.
“I think they got caught off guard a little bit. They were playing a cover two to the boundary and the guy couldn’t cover both of them, and he left Jaden,” Rogers said.
Baldwin and Rogers were backups as sophomores a year ago and formed a connection. Baldwin said that trust deepened in 7-on-7 over the winter.
“They play a lot of man coverage so we just attacked it,” Baldwin said. "The middle was wide open so we tried to attack that with crossers and digs.”
He and Huynh were the only skill position players to break loose on a night of dominant defenses shutting down offenses that averaged 43 (Liberty) and 39 (Basha) points per game going in.
Baldwin finished with eight catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns, with a third score called back by an illegal man downfield penalty.
He credited the defensive backs he faces in practice for getting him ready for big games.
“In my opinion, we’ve got the best secondary in Arizona. DBs like Mason Lewis, Xavier Rogers, Kaden Williams and all those guys, going against them helps perfect my craft,” Baldwin said.