Foothill flag football coach Jason Domingo knew his team wasn’t in an ideal situation Thursday as the Falcons started their final drive with just over two minutes remaining.
But that didn’t seem to bother the coach or his players a bit.
The Falcons constructed a frantic 77-yard drive, capped by a touchdown pass from Savanna Truax to Brooke Reed with 24 seconds remaining, to defeat Arbor View 20-14 in the Class 4A state championship game at Allegiant Stadium.
It was the first flag football championship for Foothill (14-5).
“I just told the girls to keep believing,” Domingo said. “The clock’s not at zero.”
The Falcons’ final drive started from their 3-yard line after an Arbor View punt pinned them deep. It ended on Truax’s fourth-down, do-or-die, 3-yard game-winner to Reed.
She said things didn’t quite go as planned.
“That’s not how the play was supposed to go,” Reed said. “We had to call an audible, but what a blessing for it to end like that.”
Truax, who rushed for 121 yards and passed for 189 yards and three TDs, said her final high school offensive play was her best.
“That was the biggest game of my career,” the senior said. “I said I wasn’t going to graduate until I got a state championship, and here I am.”
Foothill, the Mountain League champion, looked strong in the game’s opening moments, scoring midway through the first quarter on a 7-yard pass from Truax to Ryleigh Johnson.
But the Aggies (18-10), the Desert League champs, seized momentum with a 5-yard TD pass from Priscilla Garcia to Jayda Emil later in the quarter.
Truax’s 58-yard second-quarter TD pass to Ellie Parkson allowed the Falcons to re-establish the lead at 12-7, but Arbor View again answered on its next drive with a 4-yard TD pass from Garcia to Kaylinn Foss to make it 14-12 heading into halftime.
Both teams had scoring opportunities, with Arbor View throwing an interception at the goal line and Foothill failing to convert on a fourth down from the Aggies’ 3-yard line.
But neither scored again until Truax and Reed worked their late magic.
The Aggies mounted a threat in the final seconds, but the game ended when Garcia’s last pass was batted away in the end zone.
“That ending was Hollywood,” Domingo said. “It just felt like it wasn’t real, but the girls knew they were going to go down and score.”
Parkson had four receptions for 117 yards.
Garcia completed 21 of 33 passes for 210 yards and three scores to lead Arbor View, and teammate Danielle Morales finished with 64 rushing yards and 89 receiving yards.
Contact Jeff Wollard at jwollard@reviewjournal.com.