Higley Denies Desert Edge on a Two-Point Stop to Win the 2023 5A Title
Arizona — December 2023
Few championship games in Arizona high school football history have come down to a single play quite like the 2023 5A title game. Higley outlasted Desert Edge 42-41, sealing the win when Desert Edge quarterback Hezekiah Millender's pass on a two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete in the final moments.
The one-point margin reflected a game that lived up to every bit of its billing, with both offenses trading touchdowns deep into the fourth quarter. Desert Edge had the chance to force overtime or take the lead with the conversion attempt, but Higley's defense made the play it needed when the season was on the line.
For Higley, the win delivered a state championship in as dramatic a fashion as the sport allows. For Desert Edge, the one-point defeat was a gutting way to end an otherwise strong season — a heartbreak the program would use as fuel the following year, when the Scorpions returned to the 5A championship game and beat rival Cactus to finally break through.
The 2023 5A final stands as one of the signature games of that championship weekend, a reminder that in high school football, sometimes a single stopped conversion is the difference between a trophy and a runner-up finish.