Football wins 2016 Valley of the Sun Bowl
There have been many outstanding victories in Mesa athletic history. But arguably the best, and most exciting, came during one of MCC's most important game in its long history, was the 2016 Valley of the Sun Bowl.
Seeking to grab a seventh bowl victory in, what was at the time the 11th bowl game in which the T-Birds had played, eighth-ranked Mesa captured a thrilling 48-42 double overtime win over No. 7 Lackawanna (Pa.).
The victory gave MCC a 9-2 record, its best since 2007 when that team posted the same mark and also won a Valley of the Sun Bowl title.
The T-Birds had to rally from a 21-0 first quarter deficit which seemed to portend the Falcons completing an unbeaten season.
Mesa closed the gap to 21-7 by halftime and drew even at the 3:44 mark of the third quarter when Rathen Ricedorf connected with Darius Aguirre on a 20-yard scoring pass to knot the score at 21-21.
From there the two teams traded touchdowns until MCC tied the score once again, this time on a 40-yard Ricedorf-Aguirre connection, to make it 35-35.
In the overtime rules in effect at the time, each team got the ball at the 25-yard line, alternating possession.
MCC got the first crack and ran six plays with Tyrek Cross ramming the ball home from the two-yard line to give Mesa a shot at the win. However, Lackawanna wasted no time in forcing a second OT as Jerrod Diggs caught a 24-yard pass from David Pindell.
LC thus got possession first in the second extra period. But the Falcons were stymied by the MCC defense, gaining only two yards on three plays before Erik Hill's 33-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.
If you blinked you missed the rest of the game.
On the first play of the second OT Ricedorf found Aguirre in the far right corner of the end zone, lofting the ball over the Falcon defender and into Aguirre's waiting arms in an over-the-shoulder catch that spelled victory. It was the fourth time those two hooked up on a scoring pass during the game. The T-Birds had won, 48-42.
The TD pass was Ricedorf's 42nd of the year and gave him 3,685 passing yards, just two of the many school records the sophomore set in his career.
It was a fitting climax to one of Mesa's greatest football seasons.
Read the entire account of the game here
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