Falcons soar to miracle first win over No. 18 Warriors, get back on track

What followed was something out of a football fairy tale. Catalina Foothills found a way to score, recover an onside kick, score again and convert a 2-point conversion to knock off the ranked Warriors 29-28 for its first victory of the season.

“We came back and battled to the end,” Falcons’ head coach Daniel Sainz said. “We joke about the football gods, but sometimes they pay you back.”

Foothills’ miraculous comeback began with a touchdown on fourth-and-long from the 35-yard line. After a dominant third quarter by the Warriors, the two sides traded possession of the pigskin throughout the fourth quarter. Falcons’ junior quarterback Drew Kumar connected with junior receiver Payson Wooley to close the lead to 28-21 with less than 10 seconds remaining.

The Falcons then managed to recover their onside kick before moving into Pueblo territory after consecutive penalties from the Warriors. Twenty-five penalty yards set the Falcons up on the Warriors’ 30 with a chance for the win.

With three seconds remaining on the clock, Kumar took the snap, stood in the pocket, then rolled to his right. On the run, he launched a deep ball to the right side of the end zone, aiming for the group of bodies with a prayer that a player in a royal blue jersey would haul it in.

The buzzer blared as the ball hurtled through the air. Falcons’ senior receiver Aziz Kassire timed his jump perfectly in triple coverage, securing the catch with enough room to come down in bounds.

For 10 agonizing, eternal seconds, the result was unclear. The referees closest to the play deliberated before coming to a concrete conclusion. To the Falcons’ joy, the side judge blew his whistle and stuck his arms in the air to signal a touchdown.

With jubilation rampant around the field, the Falcons elected to go for the win. Kumar took the snap and immediately threw to his left to senior running back Khalil Azzam, who broke out of the backfield towards the left side of the end zone. Azzam secured the catch and did just enough to power through a Pueblo defender for the 2-point conversion and the win.

“This win means so much to us,” Kassire said postgame. “This is the kind of win we needed to pivot our season with the rest of the schedule we have and turn things up the rest of the way.”

Catalina Foothills’ 0-4 start included losses to three ranked teams, two of which have floated around the top of their respective conferences. On Sept. 10, Class 3A No. 6 Pusch Ridge dispatched the Falcons 48-20 at home in a local matchup. The Falcons never led during the contest, despite Kumar’s season-high 306 passing yards.

The following week, Foothills welcomed 4A Snowflake, a team that has missed the playoffs just four times since 1980. The Lobos marched to a 55-7 win, their biggest victory through the halfway point of the 2026 season.

“We’ve played two top teams, and we have another tough one later on in the year,” Sainz said, referring to region opponent and 4A No. 2 seed Mica Mountain, a game set for Oct. 23. “We still have a chance to continue this season and continue to build with this momentum.”

While the loss comes as a shock to Pueblo and makes the Warriors’ path to the postseason more difficult, there is still much to play for with aspirations beyond Week 10.

The Warriors showed resilience in the loss at Catalina Foothills, scoring 28 straight points across the second and third quarters after falling behind 14-0.

“I’m super proud of our guys,” Pueblo head coach Sylvester Lewis said postgame. “They battled all night, executed the game plan and just came up short.”

Pueblo senior quarterback Roman Otero and junior receiver Jesus Enriquez continued to be one of the most prolific connections in the state on Friday, linking up six times for 134 yards. Otero was 15-for-28 in the loss for 262 yards and two touchdowns.

Otero is currently eighth in Arizona in passing yards with 1,261 and 16 touchdowns. Enriquez remains the top receiver in the state statistically with 31 catches for 704 yards and leads Arizona with 10 receiving touchdowns.

With 4A Gila play set to begin this week, the Warriors have a prime opportunity to bounce back and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Pueblo sits at No. 22 in the 4A rankings, boasting the same or better records than every team remaining on its schedule.

No. 24 Sahuarita (3-2) is the toughest test remaining for the Warriors. The Mustangs are coached by former Pueblo skipper Jake Allen, who headed up the program from 2020 to 2023. Cholla, also 3-2, is on a roll with its first three-win season at the halfway mark since 2017.

“We showed a lot of grit and determination tonight,” Lewis added. “We’ve got some work to do, but we will watch the film and adjust from there. We have Rincon coming to our place next week, so we just have to get back to the basics, get back to our structure and stay disciplined.”

Catalina Foothills visits Amphitheater (1-4) this Friday, while Pueblo hosts Rincon/University (0-5).