Thanksgiving Week has always been synonymous with rivalry week in college football.

It’s when the most heated rivalries, over the decades, do battle.

So, it was only fitting that one of the most storied rivalries in all of Arizona high school football, Chandler vs. Hamilton in the Battle for Arizona Avenue Part II, would take place with the highest possible stakes on the line.

Win or go home.

The early part of Saturday night’s Open Division semifinal game looked much like the regular season edition at season’s end, where Chandler ruled the first half, only to see a furious second half comeback by the Huskies, which allowed them to pull out the 55-41 win.

Saturday's second half, however, did not see a miraculous comeback by Hamilton, as the Wolves built an early 30-3 third quarter lead behind quarterback Will Muncl en route to a 30-17 victory at Mesa Dobson High School.  

The win for Chandler (10-2) advanced it to the Open Division title game where it'll square off with fellow Chandler Unified School District rival Basha on Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.

“Obviously we didn’t get the result we wanted the last time, but we let it sting for a little bit and got right back to work and didn’t focus to what anybody else said. We worried about our own locker room and put our head down and worked,” said a happy Muncl.

The highly recruited junior was able to keep the Hamilton (11-1) defense on its heels all game with a combination of his arm in the first half before powering up the run game after halftime to wear the Huskies down.

The game began in the most unusual way.

An errant snap over Huskies’ quarterback Daniel Vaita on the very first play from scrimmage led to a safety and a quick 2-0 Chandler lead.

The ensuing free kick to Chandler first saw an illegal procedure penalty forcing a re-kick. Then Hamilton kicker Preston Olson boomed a kick deep into Chandler territory, allowing his teammates to make a big stop. 

One of the refs however inadvertently blew his whistle, and, instead of making the play dead where it ended, Hamilton was forced to kick a third time, leading to a big return for Chandler.

Mencl (16-of-20, 187 yards, 14 carries, 95 yards) took full advantage of great field position, marching his team down for an early 9-0 lead with a 3-yard TD scamper less than three minutes into the first quarter.

Two series later, it was Mencl again running one in (around the left end) from 22 yards out, and the lead was now 16-0 with time winding down in the first quarter.

And while it was his legs that gave them a 16-3 halftime lead, the QB’s arm set the table for the team's success, as he racked up 150 yards on 11-of-14 attempts through the air in the first half.

“Our offense has moved all year to be honest with you. And when you have one of the best quarterbacks in the country in 2027, I’ve had good ones, and (Mencl) is very, very, very special, you have a chance in every game,” Chandler Coach Ty Wisdom said.

The Wolves were able to build a commanding 23-3 lead with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter when they ran the ball 10 straight plays, capped by a Chase Ochoa 2-yard TD run. Ochoa toted the ball seven of those times for 37 yards on the drive.

And when Mencl added his third TD run (11 yards) on the very next series, extending the lead to 30-3, Chandler seemed to put any notion of another comeback to bed.

But in typical Hamilton fashion, quitting was not an option as it started to race the clock while it got back into the game.

First, Vaita found frosh Roman Oliver for a 20-yard touchdown strike just into the fourth quarter, trimming the lead to 30-10. Then after the Huskies forced Chandler to punt on the next drive, Viata found Oliver’s brother, Roye, for a 35-yard score. 

The sophomore phenom made an amazing grab that led to the TD.

The Huskies kept trying to claw back into the game on the Wolves’ next drive when a fumble recovery by Beau Jandreau gave Hamilton the ball with 4:49 still remaining and less than half the field to work with.

Chandler’s defense, however, stepped up and forced a four-and-out to close out any comeback talk.

“At the end of the day, Chandler executed and we didn’t. They capitalized on the opportunities they had and we didn’t,” Hamilton coach Travis Dixon said.

“I am proud of our guys. They didn’t quit. And I am really proud of our seniors. They bought into what we have going. I can’t say enough about them.”