Evan Jimenez is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Higley High School for AZPreps365.com 

GILBERT, Ariz. — In a matchup featuring two 4-1 teams, the Higley Knights built a 17-point fourth-quarter lead before holding off a furious Perry Pumas comeback for a 45-42 victory Thursday night.

The last time these teams met was in 2021, when Higley defeated Perry 57-20. Five years later, the matchup featured two of the state’s highly ranked teams. 

Knights wide receiver Antonio Young got the offense rolling early, finding the end zone to give the Knights a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

After Perry kicker Colton Crawford missed a field goal to start the second, Higley took advantage and went down the field and hit a field goal to increase its lead to 10.

Perry answered in the second quarter with a kickoff return touchdown from wide receiver Amos Augustine to cut the Knights lead to 10-7.

The Knights responded with Young’s second touchdown of the night, and wide receiver Xavier Jackson's touchdown shortly after to put the team up 24-7 with 58 seconds left in the half.

Perry scored again with wide receiver Jaylen Singleton’s first touchdown of the night with 30 seconds remaining, resulting in a  24-14 halftime score.

The second half became a back-and-forth battle. The Knights were driving down the field when they fumbled the ball inside the red zone, which led to Perry scoring a touchdown from quarterback Kael Snyder, cutting into the Knights’ lead, 24-21.

Higley maintained its three-point lead heading into the fourth, setting up a final quarter  that saw both teams continue to trade scores.

Young started the fourth quarter by going up the middle and fighting his way through for a touchdown, completing his hat trick and extending the Knights’ lead to 31-21. 

His third touchdown helped Higley build its lead, but he said the offense’s success started with the work up front.

“I believe in my linemen, they’re really the backbone of our team,” Young said. “Without them, me and (quarterback) Anthony Palka can’t do our job, so believing in them and our abilities to go make a play made it easier for me to make plays tonight.”

Higley head coach Eddy Zubey saw it the same way, pointing to the work of the offensive line as a key reason for Young’s success.

“Our offensive line, our tight ends, our blocking by our wide receivers, all the big guys up front,” Zubey said. “Plus he’s a tough guy to bring down, he runs through contact, and continues to move his feet and continues to fall forward.”

Higley’s offense kept their foot on the gas with Palka's touchdown on a fourth-and-5 with 6:44 remaining, putting the Knights ahead 38-21.

“We were about to kick a field goal, and our linemen actually came up in the huddle,” Palka said. “It was a timeout and they were like, ‘Anthony run the ball and we’re gonna score’ and I told my head coach and they believed in me and I took that ball and we put it in the end zone.”

Perry refused to surrender as it scored with 4:02 remaining on Singleton's second touchdown to cut the deficit to 38-28.

The Pumas attempted an onside kick, which they recovered. That momentum led them to scoring a touchdown to make it 38-35 with 2:34 remaining.

Higley punched back as Palka rushed to his right with help from his offensive line for his second rushing touchdown of the game, making it 45-35.

With just over a minute remaining, Snyder led Perry down the field and connected with Singleton for a touchdown, completing a hat trick for Singleton and pulling Perry within three points at 45-42.

Perry attempted another onside kick, which was unsuccessful this time around, leading the Knights to close out the thriller 45-42.

After holding off Perry's late comeback, the win moved Higley to 5-1 on the season and gave the Knights momentum heading into region play. Higley will face Shadow Ridge on Oct. 15 before taking on Saguaro and Williams Field later in October.