Devon Dampier rallies Saguaro late to shock No. 1 Liberty to reach Open state final

Scottsdale Saguaro is going back to the Open Division state football championship game. And the Sabercats can thank the guy who brought them the title last year.

Senior quarterback Devon Dampier, making one improbable play after another, executing two fourth-down plays in the final four minutes, then connecting with running back Zaccheus Cooper for a two-point play, put the Cats on his back to beat No. 14 nationally ranked Peoria Liberty 43-42 Saturday night before an overflow crowd at Glendale Mountain Ridge.

After Carlos Griffin intercepted Navi Bruzon's pass at midfield and Dampier could take a knee, some Liberty players slammed their helmets to the turf in painful sorrow, tears streaming down their faces.

It was the same agonizing ending Liberty (11-1) endured last year, when the Lions blew a two-possession lead in the final quarter to Chandler and lost the Open semifinal in overtime.

Meanwhile, Saguaro celebrated a miracle finish to meet up with No. 2 Chandler Basha next Saturday at 6 p.m., for the Open Division state championship at Sun Devil Stadium.

"That's the best player in the state," Saguaro coach Jason Mohns said of Dampier after the game. "So if you haven't given out your award yet, make sure you reconsider it, because everything about him is great."

Here are five takeaways from one of the craziest, wildest, greatest high school football games of the season:

1. Dampier's composure under duress

It should have been over after Dampier, trying to dump off a pass to running back Jaedon Matthews, was intercepted by Wesley Grim and he returned it 65 yards for a touchdown and a 42-28 Liberty lead with 11 minutes to play.

But Dampier refuses to lose. Facing fourth down, he rifled a 47-yard pass that was caught by JoJo Clark over a defender in the end zone to cut the score to 42-35 with 8:50 to play.

After a stop, Braylon Gardner, leaping to snag a high snap, somehow got a punt away that pinned Saguaro at its 6 with five minutes to play.

No problem.

Dampier found Clark for 14 yards. On fourth-and-11, Dampier found Chris Nimcheski for 28 yards to the Liberty 25.

Then, on fourth-and-8, Dampier found Mason Whitaker in the end zone on a timing route for a 23-yard score cutting it to 42-41 with 1:02 left.

"It was a shake route," Dampier said. "Before the play, I told Mason, he's a sophomore, 'Get open, I got you.' "

After Dampier maneuvered the drive of the season, going 94 yards on 15 plays, Mohns made what he felt was a no-brainer call: Leave it to Dampier to make a play to take the lead.

The play was perfectly executed. Out of shotgun and with Clark to his left and Cooper to his right and Matthews lined up behind him, Dampier took the snap, faked a handoff up the middle to Matthews. Both Clark and Cooper slid out to the left out of the backfield, and Dampier hit the trailing Cooper in the end zone for an open two-point conversion and a 43-42 lead. Saguaro's sideline erupted.

"It was one of those reads," Dampier said. "I could have given it or I could have kept it myself. Coach Mohns has full belief in me. That's why he called that play. I can't thank him enough for giving me that opportunity. And Z was catching the ball well today."

After running for 117 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown, in the first half, Dampier was 13 of 20 passing for 234 yards and two TDs in the second half. Dampier had to keep countering Bruzon, who was 10 of 18 passing for 193 yards in the first half. Five of Bruzon's first-half passes were dropped.

"The last time we played them (a 26-17 loss in the regular season), I made a couple of mistakes," Dampier said. "I won't lie. A lot of it was on me. Coming into this game, I told our team, 'I got you.' "

2. Saguaro's depleted defense closes it out

Saguaro was down five defensive starters due to injuries. The biggest loss was linebacker John Butler, who was having an All-Arizona season as the anchor. But Saguaro found a way to stop Liberty on its last two possessions.

Saguaro forced a rare Liberty punt with under six minutes to go when 6-foot-6 defensive end Dionte LaMaide knocked down Bruzon's third-down pass.

That led to the drive of the year.

After Dampier's play to give Saguaro the lead, nobody on Saguaro's side was breathing easy, knowing what a big-play quarterback Bruzon is. But Bruzon, trying to force a pass at midfield, saw the ball tipped and Griffin intercept it in the final minute.

Bruzon, who earlier in the week was named by the Arizona Cardinals as the High School Football Player of the Year, had two turnovers in the game. He was five of nine passing for 76 yards in the second half.

After naming off all of the injured players, Mohns said, "We just came in and gave it everything we've got."

3. Line giving Dampier time

The offensive line was inexperienced and young to start this season for Saguaro, which saw that exposed agaisnt a big, physical Bergen (New Jersey) team in the season opener. But this line developed through a 2-3 start and took off down the stretch. On Saturday, Dampier couldn't have asked for cleaner pockets, expecially in the final eight minutes.

"Shout out to the O-line," Dampier said. "I think you saw how much time I had back there. It's a great feeling to get."

4. Overcoming injuries

Saguaro's defense was depleted coming in. It also was down its top receiver, Deric English, who missed the Open playoffs due to an injury. Then, sophomore sensation Dajon Hinton, who was making big plays in the first half, got injured on a first-down catch that led to a Saguaro touchdown.

Guys like Clark, junior Jakobi Spence and Whitaker made clutch catches after Liberty looked like it was pulling away.

"It's amazing," Clark said. "We worked to the end, until that clock hit zeroes."

5. Saguaro mystique

Credit Saguaro for finding a way to get back to the Open final. Some were counting the Sabercats (9-3) out after the losing record at the season's midway point. But Saguaro had lost to the New Jersey champion, Chandler when it was ranked No. 11 in the nation, and Liberty (11-1). Saguaro's punishing schedule paid off. The X factor was always Dampier, whno last year put on a clinic in the Open playoffs, carving up Hamilton and Chandler with his legs and arm in back-to-back weeks for the title.

"We're still a 4A school," Dampier said. "We don't have that many players. But at the end of the day our backups are working, man. They obviously rise when they get their opportunity. That's all we needed."

And to win it by by getting get the ball to Cooper, who played his first two years at Liberty, it was a dream for the senior back who lost his junior season in the transfer move with a torn ACL in his first game for Saguaro last year.

This was the third straight season that Liberty's season ended in the Open semifinals in hearbreak, the last two years to Chandler in overtime.c

"We'd been working that play all week," Cooper said. "It feels great, especially after this injury, doing this. We've got playmakers everywhere."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Saguaro QB Dampier puts team on his back to shock No. 1 Liberty