Inopportune penalties, dropped balls and a weird play.

That’s how Centennial Coyotes head coach Richard Taylor described the 14-6 loss his squad was handed by the Williams Field Black Hawks in the 5A Conference championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The “weird play” was an interception by Braden Valentine that was fumbled and picked up by a different Black Hawks defender, Tre’ Bugg, who took it to the house to put them up 14-3 after the 65-yard touchdown recovery. The Coyotes tried mightily but stumbled when it counted most, notching only another field goal in the loss.

The Coyotes were unable to capitalize on key turnovers in the second quarter. After forcing the Black Hawks Josh Alexander to fumble, the Coyotes had three paltry rushes, a holding call and an incomplete pass to bring the punt unit onto the field.

Alexander fumbled for a second time on the punt, setting the Coyotes up on the Black Hawks 38-yard line. The Centennial crowd came alive after a 14-yard rush by junior running back Zidane Thomas but was stunned on the next play when the “weird play” ensued.

In the moments prior to halftime, Centennial quarterback Taylor elected not to use a timeout and keep the clock running after his starting quarterback, Ruben Beltran III, was sacked. Beltran III dropped back on the next and final play of the quarter but had to abandon the pocket to extend the play and avoid a quarter-ending sack.

Coming into the game, Campbell said that he felt if his team could eliminate unnecessary mistakes and win the turnover and possession battles, his team would fare well. However, the Black Hawks didn’t do any of those things, fumbling the ball three times, accruing more than 40 yards in penalty yards and possessed the ball for less than half of the time but still managed to grab a victory.

With five minutes left in the third quarter, the Black Hawks had their backs against the wall on third down twice but managed to convert on both occasions. One of those conversions came with 2:45 left in the third quarter on third and 13 on their own 28-yard line.

The Coyotes’ crowd was on their feet, hoping to disrupt the tempo of the Black Hawks offense, but it was to no avail as a 30-yard pass from Zack Shepherd to Justice Stokes silenced the crowd of the Coyotes.

Shepherd said after the game, “We went back to a play that we converted on already. We knew it was going to work, so we just had to go out and execute.”

Williams Field head coach Steve Campbell was ecstatic following the win.

“It’s been a long road and a lot of kids and a lot of people have put a lot of time and hard work into this to make this happen,” Campbell said.