Ironwood Ridge students celebrate during the fourth quarter of Saturday's win. Photo courtesy of Alexis Ranieri
Nighthawks football coach Matt Johnson holds the championship hardware.
TEMPE, AZ (Tucson News Now) -
Ironwood Ridge routed Peoria Centennial 27-3 Saturday night to win the Division II state championship game at Sun Devil Stadium.
The victory handed the Nighthawks their first state football title. They became the first Tucson-area high school team to beat a Phoenix-area school for a state championship since 2003.
The Ironwood Ridge defense didn't duplicate the five turnovers from their first meeting with the Coyotes, won 28-24 by the Nighthawks in September, but they did get six sacks, just one short of the seven they achieved in that Week Six win in Tucson.
IRHS scored on a 24-yard Tyler Williams touchdown pass to John Klass in the second quarter to take a 7-3 lead.
Scott Simmons intercepted a pass with 51 seconds left in the third quarter as the Nighthawks went ahead 20-3.
Anthony Braunreiter ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns including a 35-yarder that effectively iced the game with 7:33 remaining.
Copyright 2012 Tucson News Now. All rights reserved.
David Kelly contributed to this story.
