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With more than 20 family members from Hawaii coming to see him make his Chandler debut, Blaine Hipa didn’t disappoint.
In his first football game in two years, Hipa threw three touchdowns passes, completing 14 of his first 21 passes for 220 yards, leading the five-time defending state champions to a 28-7 win Friday night over visiting Peoria Centennial.
“I had some nerves in me,” said Hipa, who moved from Hawaii in the spring. “But it kind of went away and I started playing.”
It was the season opener filled with questions.
Could Hipa pick up where he left off two years ago when Hawaii last had a high school football season?
Could Chandler’s inexperienced line assert itself?
Could Chandler find another featured back?
All of those questions were answered in a 21-0 first half, when Hipa found sophomore tailback Ca’lil Valentine for a 72-yard touchdown and hit senior Quaron Adams in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard score. In the third quarter, on fourth-and-10 from the 40, he hit sophomore wide receiver Justice Spann with a 35-yard strike, before hitting him again from 3 yards out for a score to make it 28-0.
Valentine also had a 2-yard scoring run in the dominant first half.
Valentine cramped up and played little in the second half. But the Wolves didn’t need him.
“He’s got heat,” coach Rick Garretson said. “You can tell he’s a difference maker. He did that on the freshman team. But we saw that in the summer. He’s diversified enough that we can put him anywhere in the skill spot. He very much reminds us of Chase Lucas. Nobody really knew about him. I don’t talk about him until he performs. But I was very happy for him.”
This was Chandler’s first game during its run of titles without offensive line coach and run-game coordinator Chris Chick, who died in May.
Garretson said he prayed before the game and thought about Chick.
“I know he’s watching,” Garretson said. “I talk to him. I know it sounds corny.”
The offensive line is now coached by former NFL offensive lineman Leonard Davis and Sam Mafua.
“They’ve done a great job, and we’ve got a really young offensive line,” Garretson said. “All in all, I was concerned. The defensive front was tough. I was happy for the most part with our physicality up front.”
Centennial never established a run game with junior Kavaughn Clark and senior James Scott. Both were pretty much held in check throughout the game.
Centennial’s only score came on Clark’s 5-yard run on fouth-and-1 with 2:42 left in the third quarter.
The Coyotes never threatened again.
But coach Richard Taylor came away feeling OK after Centennial played the Wolves to a 7-7 tie in the second half.
“I think there were times that we played pretty well,” Taylor said. “We had a lot of young guys in there. This was an excellent game for them. You either win or you learn. And we learned tonight.”
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at [email protected] or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.
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