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Daniel Gonzales had been sidelined since he reportedly suffered a concussion against Nogales on October 22. The 6-1 205 pound Cienega linebacker/running back is punishing on defense and even more punishing on offense.

He resurfaced again six seconds into the second half of Cienega’s (11-1) 21-13 victory over Peoria at home on Friday night. He stuffed Peoria’s Ira Rojas at the line and then gave running back Adrian Martinez the same treatment two plays later to force Peoria to punt on their own 28 yard line.

Gonzales has stepped into the void left by former Cienega defender/enforcer JJ Gorosave – who is now playing for Pima - but with a twist – Gonzales also carries the ball.

Cienega All-Star running back Willie Willis had already carried the ball 23 times for 151 yards at this point, including an 8 yard touchdown run to put Cienega up 7-0 with 40 seconds left in the first half so who knew Gonzales would be the go to guy at this point?

Gonzales had only gained 120 yards on 24 carries for the entire season. He was barely the fourth running option for the Bobcats behind Willis (1,512), Isaac Jones (554) and Michael Archie (151). Even seldom used Jerimiah Robinson had gained 108 yards on his five carries for the season.

But Jordan Mills handed off to Gonzales on a 1-10 at Peoria’s 38 yard-line and he gained seven yards. Cienega was then pushed back to the 40 on a holding call – one of the many penalties that plagued Cienega on the night.

Mills handed off to Gonzales again after an incomplete pass and Gonzales took the ball straight up Peoria’s gut, ran over Peoria linebacker Devin Grijalva and then met safety Daniel Hattabaugh at the 18 yard-line 12 yards later.

The resulting collision caused a 40-minute delay as the 5-8 155 pound Grijalva tried to take on Gonzales helmet to helmet – literally.

Grijalva was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital after paramedics were able to stabilize him and the prognosis seemed to be good since he was not taken to a trauma center.

Even though Willis had seemingly run the ball at will, both teams struggled in the first half. Peoria lost the ball twice on downs deep in Cienega territory as did Cienega. Mills threw an interception to end one drive and Peoria fumbled to end one of theirs.

Daniel Boice fell on the fumble by Peoria running back Davonte Shivers at his own 40 yard-line with 6:34 left in the first half.

Willis ran the ball eight times in the ensuing drive, only interrupted by a 9 yard pass to Edgar Poe. Willis gained 51 yards on the drive including the 8 yard scoring run mentioned earlier.

Peoria attempted to drive down the field in the remaining 40 seconds and were actually moving the ball against Cienega, gaining 34 yards in 30 seconds on three plays before Javier Olono intercepted Peoria to end the half.

Cienega was poised to score again after the 40-minute delay but Peoria forced a fumble and took over at their own 5 yard-line.

Cienega stopped Peoria and forced a punt to take the ball again with 5 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Mills hit Robinson on an 18 yard pass a few plays later to put the Bobcats up 14-0. with 2:48 left in the 3rd.

Peoria figured out that their best option was to run away from Gonzales and it worked. They no longer ran right to where he was filling the gap but ran wide left instead. The result was a couple of huge gains including a 24 yard run followed by a 22 yard run to set up a 1st and goal at the 4 yard-line.

Peoria scored a couple of plays later to cut the lead to 14-7 with 42.6 seconds left in the 3rd.

Cienega was forced to punt with 11:30 left in the game and, after a 17 yard punt, found themselves on the verge of taking over the game. They were aided by an off sides penalty on a 4-4 at Cienega’s 42 yard-line and a pass interference call to set up 1-10 at the 26 with 9:04 left.

Peoria wound up with a 2-20 at the 30 due to a holding penalty of their own but Sam Pineda caught a 30 yard touchdown pass with 7:53 left.

Jones plays outside on the kick defense. He had tipped Peoria’s first extra point but it had enough left to go through after hitting the cross bar. He would not be denied this time. he exploded around the blockers and blocked the extra point to preserve a slim lead for Cienega 14-13.

His block changed the game for Peoria and they knew they needed a touchdown to win because of their difficulty kicking the ball.

Cienega punted back to Peoria with 6:09 left in the game and Peoria was back in business but they found themselves with a 4-9 from their own 45 yard-line with 5:03 left. The smart thing to do would have been to punt the ball and pin Cienega back but football coaches try many things that defy logic and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.

Peoria’s fake punt resulted in loss on downs as their pass went out of bounds.

Cienega now had the ball on Peoria’s 45 yard-line with 4:56 left in the game. Willis and Gonzales took turns running the ball eventually winding up at the 15 to set up a 3-4 with 1:41 left.

Peoria called a timeout and somehow Cienega came out of the break with a pass play. Gonzales caught the ball but for no gain to set up 4th down. Peoria called another timeout and Cienega tried another pass play.

When Olono came down all alone with the Mills pass in the end zone it was clear that Cienega coach Nemer Hassey was willing to do the unorthodox to win. But, Cienega scored too quickly. It was 21-13 with 1:18 left in the game.

Once again Peoria was aided by costly mistakes by Cienega. Peoria converted on a 4-8 but then took advantage of another pass interference call to set up a 1-10 at Cienega’s 43 yard-line with 33.8 seconds left in their season.

A facemask penalty gave them another first down with 27.2 seconds remaining. A pass play set up a first and goal at the 5 with 13.6 seconds left. two incomplete passes followed including a great defensive play by Lorye Broom to knock a pass away in the end zone with 3.9 seconds left.

Tyler Jarvis broke through the line and sacked Caleb Gillispie to end the game.

The victory sets up a huge game against top-ranked Canyon del Oro (12-0) next Wednesday night at Tucson High School. CDO defeated 8 Apollo 28-9.

Ka’Deem Carey gained 177 yards for CDO giving him 1,423 on the year in only 8 games. Willis finished with 182 yards (1,694) to set up a clash between the two.

The winner plays for the state championship on Saturday, December 4 at ASU Stadium. The game will be televised by TV Fox Sports Arizona.

QUOTES

“Guess what? We are going to the final four!” Nemer Hassey to his team after the game.

“My O-Line works hard and everything that I have been given is because of them.” Willie Willis.

“It’s a big game against a good team. Our whole season was about being back here.” Willis.

“He’s crazy. He likes to hit.” Willis on Daniel Gonzales.

“I prefer defense because I like to hit.” Gonzales.

“I saw him fly off of me and then I hit someone else.” Gonzales describing his run through Peoria’s defense.

“We knew they were running away from me but I stayed in the middle and it worked.” Gonzales.

“I knew I needed to run as fast as I can. I knew I could block it.” Isaac Jones on tipping one extra point and blocking another.

Playoff Brackets

2A

SECOND ROUND
Saturday, November 13, 6 pm

14 Thatcher at 6 Tempe Prep (at Canyon State)

4A-II

FIRST ROUND
Friday, November 12

7 Amphi beat 10 Coronado 48-8
14 Douglas lost 3 Notre Dame 51-6

SECOND ROUND
Friday, November 19

7 Amphi lost to 2 Williams Field 62-35

4A-I

FIRST ROUND
Friday, November 12

1 CDO beat 16 Sunrise Mountain 56-35
4 Cienega beat 13 Apache Junction 55-37
10 Catalina Foothills beat 7 Sabino 34-28
12 Nogales lost to 5 Peoria 42-28

SECOND ROUND
Friday, November 19

1 CDO beat 8 Apollo 28-9
4 Cienega beat 5 Peoria 21-13
10 Catalina Foothills lost to 2 Queen Creek 36-28

SEMIFINALS
Friday, November 26, 7 pm

1 CDO vs. 4 Cienega, Tucson High School

Championship
Saturday, December 4, 3 pm
ASU Stadium, TV Fox Sports Arizona

5A-II

FIRST ROUND
Friday, November 12

16 Sunnyside lost to 1 Chaparral 68-3
7 Ironwood Ridge beat 10 Horizon 35-16

SECOND ROUND
Friday, November 19

7 Ironwood Ridge beat 2 O’Connor 41-21

SEMIFINALS
Friday, December 3, 7 pm

7 Ironwood Ridge vs. 3 Centennial

5A-I

FIRST ROUND
Friday, November 12

6 Salpointe beat 11 St. Mary’s 41-3

SECOND ROUND
Friday, November 19

6 Salpointe lost to 3 Desert Vista 34-20

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