Chandler Hamilton 44, Ironwood Ridge 7

Ironwood Ridge’s sole purpose for taking on perennial power Chandler Hamilton — in its first game of the season, of all times — was to learn where it needs to improve.

A quick lesson it was on Friday night.

The host Nighthawks failed to convert a first down until 14 minutes into the game and trailed by 30 points at halftime as the seven-time state champion Huskies rolled to a 44-7 win, as part of the Coaches for Charity Kickoff Classic.

Visiting Snowflake, last year’s Division IV state runner-up, took down Amphitheater 40-0 in the other signature game Friday night.

“There were some moments where we did some good things and then you look at about six single big plays,” said Ironwood Ridge coach Matt Johnson, who is entering his seventh season with the team. “And it wasn’t in one phase; it was offense, defense and special teams.

“I’m not too worried, I think it’s one of those things where we’ve got to accept it and improve.”

Hamilton scored on its first four possessions and amassed 268 yards rushing while improving to 6-0 when playing in Southern Arizona. It was the first meeting for the Huskies and I-Ridge.

The Nighthawks returned just six starters from a team that went 9-2 in 2014, so several players were making their varsity debut against a powerhouse, which has played in seven straight state championship games.

“We wanted our kids to grow up fast,” Johnson said. “This is no longer about being the best in Oro Valley or being the best in Tucson. The goal is to be the best in the state and that is what this game shows us.”

The first play from scrimmage ended up being an indicator of how the game was going to go for the Nighthawks on Friday night.

Hamilton’s defense failed to cover an I-Ridge slot receiver on the play, but quarterback Harrison Beemiller sailed his pass high on the quick curl route that surely could have gone for a sizable gain for the Nighthawks.

Three plays later, the Nighthawks punted the ball away for the first of four times in the first half.

“We need to practice more and come up with a check down,” said Beemiller, who ran for a 63-yard touchdown in the third quarter that accounted for Ironwood Ridge’s only score. “It was a terrible pass on my part, I came out slow. I’ve got to come out faster next time and we’ll get it done.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton needed just 14 plays to take a 15-0 lead by the end of the first quarter. A botched punt attempt was one of several miscues by the Nighthawks to help the Huskies.

Still, the game was far from over.

I-Ridge seemed to be gathering momentum early in the second quarter when it notched its first down on a 15-yard completion from Beemiller to Soma Ikaika Helu. The Nighthawks drove into Hamilton territory for the first time, but an incompletion off the fingertips of Jared McKemy on third down forced the Nighthawks to punt once again.

I-Ridge got the ball back near midfield with less than a minute left in the second quarter. It took the Nighthawks three plays to drive inside the Hamilton 40 before things went south when Beemiller had a deep ball intercepted by Kyeler Burke near the goal line.

Burke returned it the distance of the field but fumbled into the end zone where a teammate recovered for the score with no time left on the clock.

Officials met to discuss whether Burke was down when he fumbled before making the call for a touchdown. Hamilton added a two-point conversion to make it 30-0.

“I thought our kids’ effort was very good,” Johnson said. “We’ve just got to clean up a lot of mistakes.”

By Daniel Gaona