The long westward drive home to the Arizona-California border likely wasn't as raucous and enjoyable as it appeared to be at halftime for Parker.

It was victorious nonetheless.

After dominating in the first 24 minutes, the 40-28 win over Heritage Academy Mesa on Friday had some tension and suspense in the second half of a 2A Region 2 game.

Three second half defensive interceptions, two by Parker's Jax Poole, staved off the comeback by Heritage Academy to move Parker 7-0 overall and 3-0 in region play after the win at Arete Prep, where the Heroes play their home games.

“I wasn’t too happy about the second half,” Parker coach Jeff Wheatley said. “I think I jinxed it. I told the coaches on the headsets, ‘We’re dialed in tonight.’

“We had some tough turnovers there that put us in a tough spot.”

Parker rushed out, thanks to the wing-T, to a 34-0 lead after scoring on its first five drives and 310 yards of offense.

Then a rejuvenated Heritage Academy - scoring with 3 seconds left in the first half, on the first drive of the second half, and then again after Parker fumbled on its first play of the half - made it interesting.

In a matter of six minutes of clock time, the Broncs’ lead went from 34 points and a possible running clock to 14.

The Heroes (5-2, 1-2) then recovered an onside kick, completely changing the complexion of the game, but Heritage Academy threw its first interception of the season after more than 75 attempts.

“We showed a lot in the second half, and I told them after it was about their belief,” Heroes first-year coach Spencer Wade said. “We talk about the process and doing our job, and I think we worried too much about the outcome in the first half. (Parker) kept scoring and scoring and then we had a turnover and we were getting defeated by our own mentality.

“Once we starting to believe, get our stride, we were able to get some things going but it was a too little too late.”

The Broncs, playing without 1,200-yard rusher Victor Aguilar for nearly the entire second half, were able to end the Heroes’ run on Ayden Eans’ second score of the game for a 40-20 with 10:40 left in the game after Poole’s first interception.

“We had to make some plays on defense,” said Poole, who was 4-for-6 for 81 yards with a touchdown at quarterback. “We’re tough and no one is more physical than us. We stepped up in the end when we had to.”

The Heroes showed resiliency as they played without three starters on the offensive line, starting quarterback Ben Nyman left at the end of the first half when he was sandwiched between two tacklers only for Kevin Pugmire to come in to throw a touchdown for the Heroes first score of the game. Nyman returned to help with the comeback attempt.

Oh, and this is the program’s first year in the AIA and 11-man football after winning 17 state titles in 8-man football in the Canyon Athletic Association.

“It’s difficult, but these kids are really special,” said Wade, who played on the 2019 state title team, of the transition to 11-man. “They do everything I tell them to do and they run with it. They are learning and growing in our first year at this level.”

While Parker had some let up, the Broncs still had more than 400 yards offense on the way to a seventh straight win to open the year for the first time since 2021.

“We have to execute better when we face some challenges,” said Wheatley, who went 2-8 his first year in 2022. “We actually talk to the boys quite a bit about that. I mean when we’re tired and things get tough; we still have to execute so hopefully we matured tonight.

“It was good game for us to grow from going forward.”

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