No. 2 Arbor View outduels No. 3 Coronado with late TDs — PHOTOS

Arbor View’s football team didn’t have the best night offensively on Friday. But the Aggies were still in it, with Coronado clinging to a seven-point lead with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Fortunately for Arbor View, its offense got the boost it needed, thanks to defense and special teams.

Arbor View recovered a muffed punt and had an interception in the last three minutes that the offense turned into touchdowns, and the Aggies, No. 2 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, rallied for a 28-21 road win at No. 3 Coronado.

Sophomore quarterback Thaddeus Thatcher hit sophomore wide receiver Damani Warren on a 59-yard touchdown pass to give Arbor View (5-0, 2-0 5A Division I) its first lead with 36 seconds left. The Aggies’ defense stopped a lateral attempt by Coronado (3-2, 1-1) near midfield to secure the win.

“That was huge,” first-year Arbor View coach Marlon Barnett said of the turnovers late. “I’m proud of my defense, my defensive staff and defensive players. We go out there and talk about being stingy to the ball, and those things are the little things and small details that we practice every day. I’m extremely happy to see it coming to fruition for us.”

Warren hauled in 142 receiving yards on five catches. Thatcher completed 15 of 25 passes for 280 yards, with both of his touchdown passes coming late in the fourth quarter. Thatcher added a short rushing touchdown in the first half.

“This feels great with all the work we put in and the stuff we put in at practice,” Warren said. “It was a great win because we came into it playing bad in the first half. We were doubting ourselves. Then we picked our heads up, had a good halftime, and we dominated the second half.”

Coronado took a 21-14 lead late in the third quarter when Aiden Krause hit Ty Tinner on a 12-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal.

Arbor View’s special teams came up with the first turnover when Tinner muffed a punt and the Aggies came out of the scrum with the ball with 2:35 left in the fourth quarter.

Thatcher didn’t waste any time with a short field after a Coronado penalty after the whistle. On the first play of the drive, he found Jayden Williams on an 18-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 21.

There was still plenty of time for Coronado to answer, but Krause was picked off by Damien Dixon Jr. with 1:39 left. The Aggies started at their own 17-yard line, but they needed just four plays to take the lead.

Thatcher found an open Warren over the middle of the field, the 6-foot-4-inch receiver raced home for the winning score, and the Aggies’ defense came through one more time to seal the win.

“We practice for these exact moments and you saw it play out well,” Warren said. “(The turnovers) gave us the boost and we already knew we were going to do what we do. … I just saw an open field when I got the ball, I didn’t feel like anyone would catch me.”

It wasn’t the cleanest first half for Arbor View. The Aggies managed just 131 yards of offense in the first half and had seven first-half penalties, including two that brought back touchdowns, but their defense came through with three turnovers on the night to keep them in the game.

Basketball standout Brian Townsend had two sacks and a tackle for loss, and Christian Thatcher had a sack and a tackle for loss for Arbor View, which remains perfect and is tied atop the 5A Division I standings with Bishop Gorman and Foothill.

Coronado struck first late in the first quarter. After a short Arbor View punt, Krause found Utah commit JJ Buchanan down the sideline on a 38-yard touchdown pass to put the Cougars ahead 7-0 with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.

Arbor View’s Vicentico Pringle sacked Krause and forced a fumble in the second quarter. A block in the back negated a 42-yard Dontrell Bealer fumble recovery for a touchdown, but the Aggies methodically moved the ball, and Nylen Johnson tied the score at 7-7 on a 2-yard touchdown run with five minutes on the clock before halftime.

Krause quickly answered when the senior right-hander hit an open Scott Holper on a 78-yard touchdown pass to put Coronado back ahead 14-7 with 3:42 before the break.

It was still plenty of time for Arbor View to answer. While a chop block negated a Thatcher touchdown pass, he would later find the end zone on a quarterback sneak with 28 seconds on the clock to tie the score at 14-14 going into halftime.

Arbor View next hosts Desert Pines, and Coronado plays at Basic as both teams continue 5A Division I league play. Both games will be played at 1 p.m. Oct. 5, with all high school football games happening on Saturday next week due to Rosh Hashanah.

“I want these guys to use football as a tool to respond when adversity hits,” said Barnett, who got emotional addressing his team after the win. “That’s what happened tonight. They responded so well, and I’m extremely proud of those guys.”