As the saying goes, “You have to knockout the champion to win.” Down 21-20 at No. 1 Mica Mountain, No. 10 Walden Grove head coach Corey Noble had a decision to make with about 14 seconds left. His freshman quarterback, Miguel Alvarez, engineered one of the most dramatic scoring drives that one might see from a more seasoned leader. A 36-yard dash from his own 14-yard line was followed by a 50-yard scoring throw to Jordan Dobson – 18 seconds total.

Noble chose to end the game right there by going for two points. “I would have fired myself if I went for one point,” Noble explained after game in an almost empty stadium after the 22-21 victory.

The conversion play itself was remarkable, worthy of state-wide recognition for the longtime coach. Senior linebacker Paul Delgado took the snap, moved to his right and he threw to a closely guarded fellow senior defender in Nick Roberts. The catch and the ensuing hit briefly knocked the air out of Roberts but there was plenty of oxygen fueling the celebration that exploded from the Red Wolve faithful.

“As soon as I threw it, I saw him go through the gap and I was like, he’s catching that,” Delgado said. In a crazy final seven minutes, there was still 12 seconds left on the clock but Mica Mountain had to go at least 50 yards to attempt a kick to retake the lead and the Bolts almost did it.

Sophomore Adam Becker hit Eli Palma for 15 yards with about 5.5 seconds left but the next pass developed a bit too long and it fell incomplete. The insanity was over for this game but it is surely to return come playoff time.

Mica Mountain (6-1) was on an incredible 37-3 run dating back to a semifinal loss to Canyon del Oro in 2023. A 14-0 championship season followed in 2024 and a 12-2 championship run came in 2025. The Bolts were seeded No. 4 in 2024 and No. 7 last year so there is little solace for the rest of the 4A teams knowing that Mica Mountain probably lost out on the top seed this year. The program knocked out the top two seeds in 2024 and the team did that again last year. Those teams are not safe, especially with now determined and refocused champion.

Walden Grove (5-2) was upset in the opening round of the state playoffs at home last year to Northwest Christian, the same team the Red Wolves beat on the road in the opening round in 2024. That victory was the biggest victory in Walden Grove history until the win at Mica Mountain Friday night.

“This is the biggest win in Walden Grove history,” an emotional Nobel told his players after the game. “So far,” he added.

The Walden Grove defense collected four turnovers and the team turned two of those into scores. A Thunderbolt fumble after a 20-yard pass completion at midfield gave the Red Wolves the ball with 9:36 left in the first. The scoring drive that came next featured a first down on a fourth-and-four on a penalty and a 13-yrd run from Alvarez on a third-and-10. Still it took three runs from the 1-yard line for Dominic Sanchez to put Walden Grove up 7-0 with 4:21 left and even then the Mica Mountain defense almost came up with a stop.

Rashad Marshall came up with an interception to give the Red Wolves the ball back with 11:46 left in the half and Dobson put Walden Grove up 14-0 on a 14-yrd run with 9:30 left.

The Thunderbolts drove down the field 79 yards to set the ball up at the one but the Walden Grove defense came up big again by forcing a fumble that push Mica Mountain back to the 12 and then Dobson intercepted a pass in the end zone to end the threat.

Mica Mountain came out of the half down 14-0 and the Red Wolves forced back-to-back turnovers on downs to keep the Bolts at bay. The Mica Mountain defense was holding strong also by forcing punts and it looked like the team was about to score but a fumble at the nine ended another threat. It seemed like time was running out on Mica Mountain.

After another punt, the Thunderbolts got the ball back to start the fourth quarter. There would be no stopping Mica Mountain this time with Becker hitting Jeremiah Anderson from 11 yards out to cut the lead down to 14-7 with 7:06 left in the game.

The Mica Mountain defense forced three punts in the third quarter and that side of the ball came up big again by forcing a Walden Grove fumble with 6:56 left. Becker pulled off a 19-yard scoring run to tie the game up 14-14 with 4:44 left.

The teams took turns punting and then the Thudnerbolt defense forced another punt with 48.5 seconds left. It looked like the game was headed to overtime but sophomore Jack Andrews got a hand on the punt and Nic Regina ran the ball back 61 yards to put the Bolts up 21-14 with 34.9 seconds left.

Too much time on the clock.

Walden Grove has control of the 4A Kinor Region with Catalina Foothills (2-5) visiting next week and Mica Mountain visits Amphitheater (1-6) but Mica Mountain head coach Jay Campos reminded his squad that they have a bigger goal down the road and that game will be played on Friday, Dec. 4.