Friday night the Hayden High School Lobos varsity football team earned a return trip to the Conference 1A eight-man football championship, where they aim to defend their 2023 title.

The Lobos cruised past the St. David High School Tigers 53-6 in Friday’s tournament semifinals, playing at Coronado High School in Scottsdale. The victory raised their season record to 11-0.

Senior quarterback Paul Gaither threw for 330 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers, connecting twice with senior José Fong and once with junior Kino Lorona. Lorona added two rushing touchdowns. Junior Tyler Garner led the Lobos in rushing with 92 yards and also ran it in twice. Senior Jordan Rodriguez also had a rushing touchdown.

Senior Matt Armenta led the Lobos’ defense against St. David, with 11 tackles. Lorona was right behind him with 10. Junior Mario Hong recorded seven tackles including, for the second straight game, three sacks.

“St. David is well-coached and they had some good athletes but our line dominated the trenches, which was the difference in the game,” said Hayden head coach John Estrada. “Our line played well, opening holes for our backs to run through and giving our quarterback time to throw the ball.”

Before meeting the Tigers, the Lobos defeated the Desert Christian High School Eagles 77-6 in the 1A quarterfinals. In that game Gaither was 4-for-5 passing, but he made those completions count. Three of them went for touchdowns, to Garner, Lorona, and senior JJ Manriquez. Lorona added three rushing touchdowns while gaining 136 yards on just four carries. Garner also topped the century mark with 104 yards on five carries and added a rushing touchdown. Manriquez, Armenta and Rodriguez each added a rushing score.

Armenta led the Lobos' defense against Desert Christian with nine tackles, while Hong contributed three sacks. Garner and Fong each had two interceptions.

Top-seeded Hayden will play for the championship Saturday, November 16 against the second-seeded Bagdad High School Sultans. The teams met in Hayden earlier this season, where the Lobos came out with a 30-20 victory.

“We’ll need to play our best football come Saturday,” Estrada said.