The Chaparral Firebirds definitively proved they could handle the jump to Class 5A-II with a convincing 34-21 victory over Marcos de Niza in the Arizona state championship Friday night at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.

(More photos, click here!)

“They said it couldn’t be done,” Chaparral coach Charlie Ragle said. “But here we are at the top.”

A stop on fourth-and-goal just before halftime and a quick score less than two minutes into the second half catapulted the Firebirds to victory.

Sophomore Connor Brewer took a quarterback sneak from the 1 to put Chaparral up 27-14 with 35 seconds left in the first half, but Anthony Shivers rattled off a 75-yard run on the next play from scrimmage to set the Padres up first-and-goal from the 5.

The Firebird defense stiffened, however, and after a false start, Marcos elected to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 6 with eight seconds left.

They walked away empty-handed, as Sean Kamela forced his way into the Padre backfield and caused Zach Schira to throw a hapless pass into the feet of his offensive line, preserving Chaparral’s 27-14 lead.

Just four plays into the second-half, Chaparral looked like they might blow the doors off the game like they have throughout the playoffs.

Brewer ran a play-action fake to Cole Tyree and dropped back. He spotted Dwayne Garrett over the middle and hit him in stride. Garrett did the rest, pulling away from a crowd of would-be tacklers for a 63-yard touchdown and a 34-14 lead.

The Firebirds forced Marcos to punt on the following possession but turned it over moments later off a bad snap. The Padres took over on the Firebird 16 and punched it in four plays later to cut the lead to 34-21.

But that would be the last bit of offense that either team could muster for the remainder of the game, as penalties continually hampered both teams and Chaparral held on for the victory.

It was the Firebirds first state championship since 2002. They lost last year in the Class 4A-1 championship to Saguaro.

Ragle said they played this year by the mantra, “We lost last year, so we can win this year.”

“It pushed us to get better, bigger, faster and stronger,” he explained. “These are selfless kids that lined up and played.”

Chaparral was led by Garrett’s 172 total yards and three touchdowns.

Chris Fox anchored Chaparral’s defense with a fumble recovery for a touchdown and an interception. He was seemingly involved or around nearly every tackle for the Firebirds.

Marcos scored first on a stellar one-handed grab by Justin Rodriguez on a fade route. But Joe Zurek clamped down at corner for the Firebirds, and effectively shut down Rodriguez for the remainder of the game.

Chaparral cut the lead to 7-6 when Fox recovered a fumble in the end-zone.

The Padres punted on their next possession, and on the ensuing drive, the Firebirds covered 82 yards in just two plays to go up for good, 13-7, just before the end of the first quarter. Tyree broke a 31 yard run to the 44, and Garrett followed it up with a 56-yard scamper to paydirt.

Tyree played big all night and powered his way through holes for 95 yards on 16 carries.

Brewer finished with 147 yards on 6-of-9 passing. Danny Trittler hauled in four of those passes for 81 yards.

“It’s been an up and down year, on and off the field,” an emotional Ragle said. “This shows what life is about. We kept battling and battling. And here we are.”