Valley Christian powers through to state title round

Valley Christian’s football team could be feeling a bit enchanted.

The Trojans have overcome the St. John’s jinx that tormented them for the past two years and are returning to Northern Arizona University’s Skydome at 12:30 Saturday afternoon, where they got their first victory of the year in what has turned out to be an 11-1 season.

Only ninth-seeded Willcox stands between the seventh-seeded Trojans and their first state 2A state championship since 2005 when Bill Morgan took over the program.

But from what Morgan has seen on tape and heard around the state, the Cowboys, who last won the title in 1982, can be a formable obstacle.

“They’re the best team we’ve seen all year,” Morgan predicted. “They’re better than St. John’s. They’re solid, have balance and are just a complete football team.”

Willcox into the championship game with victories over Arizona Lutheran and top ranked Northwest Christian when the Cowboys’ 6-foot-1, 210-pound Mike Rand ran for 300 yards and a touchdown.

Valley Christian, meanwhile, got the St. John’s monkey off their back with a 26-24 win in the semifinals.

The Redskins, coached by Morgan’s brother, Bill, had eliminated Valley Christian from the playoffs with victories in the semifinals the past two years.

And St. John’s had a couple of chances to do it again.

The Trojans lost three fumbles, but were able to stop the Redskins at the 10-yard line with a little more than a minute remaining in the game.

“I don’t think we had three turnovers all year,” Mike Morgan said.

On a fourth-and-three from the St. John’s 16-yard line early in the fourth quarter Trojan’s junior quarterback, Jordan Morgan, came through with a pass to Kyle O’Brien, who went up between two defenders to make the catch in the end zone to give the Trojans a 26-22 lead.

St. Johns got a safety in the final 18 seconds.

None of this year’s Trojan squad was around when Valley Christian won the state championship in 2005.

But players like Jordan Morgan, as well as Ahwatukee Foothills residents James Fitzgerald and Blake Argo, have experienced the St. John’s hex for two seasons.

This season Morgan has thrown for 1.087 yards and 21 touchdowns, run for 972 yards and 15 more touchdowns. He also had 97 tackles as a defense back and is averaging more than 40 yards per punt.

Fitzgerald had run for 231 yards and four touchdowns and scored two more touchdowns on pass interceptions. As a receiver he has been averaging 12 yards per receptions and taken two of those passes into the end zone. On the defensive side of the ball he also has 40 tackles.

Injuries have limited Argo’s playing time but the senior running back has averaged 10 yards per carry and scored seven touchdowns.

Playing indoor on an artificial turf shouldn’t alter the Trojan’s game plan, Bill Morgan said.

Valley Christian ran for 349 yards and Argo scored three touchdowns when it opened the season in the Skydome with a 48-0 victory over Needles, Calif., in August.

The Trojan’s only loss this year came in the sixth game of the season when they lost, 42-35, to Northwest Christian.