Chandler downs Hamilton, advances to Open football title game
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Chandler coach Ty Wisdom and his staff wanted to hold back junior quarterback Will Mencl in the run game. They knew Mencl was a capable runner who would add another body to the box for defenses to account for, but they decided to wait to deploy Mencl on the ground.
That time has passed as Mencl is now the main cog of the Wolves’ rushing attack and it’s a reason why Chandler is headed to the Open Division state championship game. No. 4 Chandler defeated its biggest rival, No. 1 Hamilton, 30-17 in the Open Division semifinals on Nov. 29 in front of an overflow crowd at Dobson High in Mesa, advancing to the Dec. 6 state championship behind three rushing touchdowns from Mencl.
“It’s one of those things where you gotta be smart with who you got,” Wisdom said about Mencl running. “We knew that when it comes down to November, December football, you do whatever it takes to win. When you got one of the best quarterbacks in the country … I’ve had good ones, and he is very, very, very special – you have a chance in any game.”
Mencl, 6-4, 205 pounds, is up to 10 rushing touchdowns just in the last four games.
Chandler (10-2) advances to its first state championship game since 2021, bouncing back after missing the playoffs last season. It is the eighth overall appearance in the title game in school history for the Wolves.
Chandler will play No. 2 Basha at Mountain America Stadium on Dec 6, at 6 p.m., in the first year under Wisdom, who was hired in the offseason to replace Rick Garretson.
“I’m really proud of our kids and our coaches, they’ve worked their butts off,” Wisdom said. “They deserve this. I’m happy for the Chandler community, you can see it obviously means a lot to them. It’s really special, this is what high school sports are about … It’s a great atmosphere tonight and these kids will remember this stuff for a long time.”
The game got off to the worst possible start for top-seeded Hamilton, which was without star sophomore quarterback Jax Sculley due to a knee injury. The Huskies fumbled the snap on the first play of the game, leading to a safety and a quick 2-0 lead for Chandler.
After the following kick went out of bounds, Chandler had the ball at Hamilton’s 40-yard line and only needed five plays to score after that, going up 9-0 on a 1-yard run from Mencl with 9:29 left in the first quarter.
Chandler extended its lead to 16-0 at the end of the first quarter on a designed quarterback draw by Mencl, running it in from 22 yards out for his second touchdown of the game.
The Hamilton offense struggled for the entire first half, opting for a run-heavy approach between senior Jacob Brown and junior Skylar Cole. Chandler’s defense zeroed in on superstar sophomore wide receiver Roye Oliver III, who recently broke the 6A single-season receiving touchdown state record, not allowing his first catch of the game until 6:13 left in the second quarter.
“I thought coach (Steve) Huber and our defensive staff did a tremendous job of game planning,” Wisdom said. “Obviously, they’re a little bit different without their QB1. Not to take anything away, kid came in and did a great job against us that first time. Schematically, we saw some things we thought we could take away, just the simplicity of what they were doing.”
Chandler went up 23-3 with 2:49 left in the third quarter, running nine straight run plays as senior running back Chase Ochoa capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown.
After forcing a punt on Hamilton’s next drive, Mencl made it 30-3 on another design run, scoring from 11 yards out at the 11:11 mark in the fourth quarter. Mencl ended the touchdown with the “Night Night” celebration made famous by Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry.
For Mencl, it’s redemption. He was the quarterback of last year’s team that went 5-6 and missed the playoffs, the first losing season for Chandler since 2005.
“It means everything,” Mencl said. “We’ve gone to work since last spring and we haven’t worried about what anyone else said, just kept all of our words in the locker room and put our heads down. It means a lot, but we expected to be here.”
Hamilton tried to make it a game late, scoring quickly after Mencl’s last touchdown on a 20-yard pass from senior quarterback Daniel Vaita to freshman wide receiver Roman Oliver to cut the lead to 30-10 with 9:42 left.
Hamilton forced a punt on Chandler’s next drive and scored quickly again, with Oliver III making one of the plays of the year on a one-handed, tippy-toe catch down the left sideline on a 35-yard touchdown to make it 30-17 with 6:46 left in the game.
Then Hamilton senior safety Beau Jandreau recovered a fumble from Mencl, taking it back to the 48-yard line.
All of a sudden, the game was tight.
But Chandler’s defense held firm, forcing the turnover on downs and then running the clock out.
It wasn’t the ending Hamilton (11-1) coach Travis Dixon and his team envisioned after running through the regular season. Five years have now passed since Hamilton last played in the state championship, 13 years since the last title.
Yet, there is momentum within the program.
“There’s a lot of things to build off,” Dixon said. “We had a lot of young guys playing this year, some positives. I think as we look at the next couple of classes, how do we continue to learn from one another? Grow from this? What can we adjust as coaches and players to make this better to get us over this hump? At the end of the day, I’m proud of these guys. I love being the head coach here at Hamilton High School.”
Logan Stanley is a sports reporter with The Arizona Republic who primarily focuses on high school, college and Olympic sports. To suggest ideas for human-interest stories and other news, reach out to Stanley at logan.stanley@usatodayco.com or 707-293-7650. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @LSscribe.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Chandler beats Hamilton, advances to Open state championship game
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