Talan Speir set up the game’s first touchdown with a 35-yard catch. He caught two TD passes in the first half, then another in the final quarter, as host Benjamin Franklin Queen Creek beat Chandler Valley Christian 35-6 before an overflow crowd on Thursday night, Sept. 25.
Speir also intercepted a pass, returning it 50 yards, and, when it was over, he went home carrying the Fiesta Bowl belt for being named the football player of the game.
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“I don’t know what college coaches are waiting on,” Benjamin Franklin coach Danny Norris said after the 6-foot-2, 180-pound senior’s performance. “He’s a ballplayer. He’s only in his second year of playing high school football. And he’s doing every bit of what we’re asking for.
“He’s humble. He’s an all-conference football player, an all-conference basketball player, an all-conference baseball player.”
Speir credits his teammates, especially quarterback Gavin Wyler, who was remarkable, as usual. Several of Wyler’s passes were thrown deep for Speir, who was able to make great catches over his shoulders.
After Speir had what looked like a touchdown, but it was ruled out of bounds, Wyler went right back to Speir, who eluded a tackler and dashed down the sideline for the 35-yard score that made it 35-6 with 8:23 left.
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“Gavin is one of the best quarterbacks in Arizona,” Speir said. “He can trust me, and I can trust him. I think we have a very good bond, outside of football, too.”
Both teams entered the game 5-0 at the midway point in the 3A season. Both figure to make deep runs in the playoffs. They could see each other again there.
This just happened to be one of the best overall performances — offense, defense and special teams — that the Chargers put together in the Norris coaching era.
They intercepted four passes, caused a fumble that they recovered on a sack, and shut down the Trojans’ run game.
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Running back Landon Stetka punished defenders with bullish runs between the tackles. He scored Benjamin Franklin’s first touchdown on a 1-yard run that was set up by Speir’s long catch.
Wyler’s 23-yard pass to Speir made it 14-0 with 1:45 to play in the first quarter.
After Asher Hanzal caught a pass and ran 60 yards to cut the deficit to 14-6, Wyler led the Chargers down field, hitting Speir on play action for a 12-yard scoring strike that made it 21-6 early in the second quarter.
Valley Christian really never threatened again.
“I think we did what we wanted to do against them,” Norris said. “I thought we had good personnel matchups. The coaching staff did a phenomenal job. The offensive coordinator, the defensive coordinator, they put it together, and these boys flat out played football.”
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It was onto Gilbert Christian, Norris told his players, after the game. Gilbert Christian enters its game on Sept. 26 against ALA Ironwood at 5-0.
The parity in 3A is great with top-ranked Tucson Pusch Ridge unbeaten after winning the title last year. Payson comes into its Saturday, Sept. 27 game at Round Valley undefeated. And Thatcher is expected to have something to say in the end, along with Show Low and Lakeside Blue Ridge. And still don’t count out Valley Christian, which fell to 5-1.
“I think these young men are grounded,” Norris said. “They know what it felt like to get humbled last season (in a loss to Pusch Ridge in the semifinals).
“Valley Christian is one heck of a football team. They built the standard for small-school football. We’re trying to live up to that.”
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Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Talan Speir’s 3 touchdown catches lead Benjamin Franklin in 3A win
