Badgers Streak Runs To Seven On Homecoming Night

Photo: Nick Phillips with his first of two touchdown receptions

Quarterback James Hefferin threw a pair of touchdown passes to Nick Phillips and Braylon Johnson ran in another to lead the Prescott Badgers to a 21-14 win over the Coconino Panthers on what turned out to be homecoming night.

Photo: 2026 Homecoming king and queen Jake Ray and Ella Franz

The festivities were originally scheduled the week before but when Mohave forfeited due to a lack of players, the event was pushed to last night. The crowning of king and queen at halftime went to Jake Ray and Ella Franz.

Photo: 13 Rutger Funk works to bring down 7 Jabar Nichols with 34 Austin Clouse closing in to assist

Coconino took the lead in the first quarter when quarterback Jabar Nichols found Bryce Passalacqua who maneuvered his way into the end zone.

Photo: 12 Crew Contreras and 44 Aaron Butler are closing in on quarterback 7 Jabar Nichols

The teams exchanged pass interceptions before the Badgers were able to break through midway through the second quarter. Braylon Johnson busted up the middle for 7 yards and when Brandon Costes added the game was tied at seven. Johnson said, “This was a good win for us and a challenging one at that. The line does such a great job of creating space for us. It is just a matter of securing the ball and taking what is there.”

The Panthers looked to regain the lead, but when Easton Shy sacked the quarterback, Coconino was forced to punt with just under five minutes left in the half.

The Badgers began moving the ball and were helped on a roughing the passer penalty on Coconino, setting up the go ahead score. Hefferin found Nick Phillips on the near sideline and dropped the pass right into the streaking receivers arms for six points with 21 ticks left on the clock. Costes added the PAT and Prescott led 14-7 at the half. 

Photo: Halftime with the Prescott Spirit Line

Hefferin, who is completing nearly 60% of his passes on the season, said, “I was able to get enough space to see Nick down field and I just had to lay it in there.” About the challenges of being in the backfield. “Our line with their size can make seeing downfield more difficult but they did a good job of giving me the time to find a receiver. I just have to create some open space to see downfield because they are up front taking care of business.”

After a punt by each team to start the second half, Coconino got their offense in gear and scored the equalizer when Austin Raths broke free on a 52 yard run to tie the game 14-14.

The Badgers responded when Hefferin found Phillips for the second time in the game, over the middle as the pass fell right in the striding receiver’s hand for the go ahead score. 

Photo: The PHS student section celebrating

Ahead 21-14, the defense took over and it became a punt fest for the final quarter. Coconino in a desperate attempt to try and tie the score went for it twice on fourth down. The Panthers were successful the first time, but Prescott slammed the door shut in their final attempt to preserve the win. 

Defensive lineman Rutger Funk said, “This was a good win for us. Coming off a so-called bye week. We knew that they would come out and try to establish ball control. They got us a couple of times but we knuckled down in the fourth and would not give them anything on the scoreboard.”

Lineman Blake Mcglory said, “It was a good battle in the trenches tonight. We just did our best to keep them on their heels and it worked out good for us. It was another fun game to play in. I like it when we get some challenges.”

Prescott, ranked #5 coming in is now (7-0) and will play winless Flagstaff in the NAU dome on Thursday at 7pm. The Eagles lost by two points at home to Mohave.

Other games of interest:

Mica Mountain, the number one team in division 4A fell late to Walden Grove 22-21. The Thunderbolts trailed 14-0 through three quarters before the offense came alive to score the next 21 to go up 21-14 with three minutes left. Walden Grove managed to regroup and went down the field and scored with just 26 seconds left, and then opted to go for two and were successful in knocking off last year’s champion.

Snowflake, the #2 team whalloped Combs down in the San Tan Valley 62-7. The score was 35-0 after just the first quarter. The score went to 49-0 midway through the second and that is when a running clock took over making the final two plus quarters go by quickly.

The #3 Bradshaw Mountain Bears won a come from behind thriller 30-27 over Lee Williams on Thursday in Prescott Valley. The battle featured two outstanding running backs with Bears’ Jon’te Jones rushing for 212 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries, while his counterpart Lucas Leist of Lee Williams rushed for 288 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries. 

Bradshaw Mountain quarterback Taye Evans was 8-17-0 for 116 yards and a touchdown, that TD going to Caden Dabney who had 7 receptions on the night for 81 yards. 

The Bears will play at Buckeye on Friday at 7pm.

Chino Valley suffered a 71-20 huge setback to the Camp Verde Cowboys, who led 42-0 at the half. The Cowboys were led by quarterback Zayden Turnbell who threw for 123 yards and 3 touchdowns in the first half. Justin Smith rushed for 104 on 12 carries with 4 touchdowns.

The Cougars (1-3) and (2-5) will visit Fountain Hills on Friday at 7pm. Camp Verde is now (3-1) and (6-1) and will host Division 2A #1 Scottsdale Christian (4-0) and (7-0) at 7pm Friday.

PRESCOTT BADGERS 21, COCONINO PANTHERS 14

Score by Quarters-     1        2        3        4    –    T

Coconino                    7        0        7        0    –   14

Prescott                      0       14       7        0    –   21

Scoring Summary

C-Jones 24 yard pass from Nichols (Garcia kick)

P-Johnson 7 yard run (Costes kick)

P-Phillips 18 yard pass from Hefferin (Costes kick)

C-Raths 52 yard run (Garcia kick)

P-Phillips 33 yard pass from Hefferin (Costes kick)

GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS

School- 4A Rank (*)       W-L       W-L

Prescott (5)                     4-0        7-0

Bradshaw Mountain (3)  4-0        6-1

Coconino (15)                2-1        3-4

Lee Williams (12)           1-2        5-2

Mohave                          1-2        1-6

Mingus                           0-3        0-6

Flagstaff                         0-3        0-7

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS SCOREBOARD

Prescott 21, Coconino 14

Arcadia 38, Mesquite 0

Buckeye 49, Youngker 38

Camp Verde 71, Chino Valley 20

Estrella Foothills 44, Cibola 0

Marcos de Niza 42, Independence 10

Maricopa 21, Mingus 14

Maryvale 49, Copper Canyon 0

Mayer 52, Bagdad 48

Mohave 30, Flagstaff 28

North Canyon 49, Washington 12

Northwest Christian 30, ALA-West Foothills 14  

Peoria 58, Paradise Honors 21

Tempe 50, Moon Valley 14

Snowflake 62, Combs 7 

Thunderbird 36, St. Mary’s 34

Walden Grove 22, Mica Mountain 21

Williams 40, Mogollon 14

Thursday Scores

Bradshaw Mountain 30, Lee Williams 27