The decision had already been made. The play had been run several times during practice this week. The matchup was a good one.

SLIDESHOW: Prep football: Desert Vista vs. Chandler 

SLIDESHOW: Friday Night High School Football

For whatever reason, the formation wasn’t correct, and while Chandler coaches went screaming down the sidelines trying to call a timeout, the referees didn’t notice.

So in the amount of time it took to snap the ball to Wolves quarterback Kyle Yount, Phoenix Desert Vista’s tandem of Devon Kennard and Danny Mullarkey had him pancaked. The Wolves’ two-point conversion went awry in the game’s final minutes, and Desert Vista survived a big scare in the final three minutes for a 21-20 victory over the Wolves on Friday night.

“We practiced it,” Wolves coach Jim Ewan said. “You wouldn’t know it by what happened, but we worked it well all week.”

The Thunder (2-1) overcame one fright, but another is still lurking. With the one-point lead, the Thunder were trying to run out the clock on offense when Kennard was tackled from the side and behind simultaneously. His right knee bent awkwardly and he was on the ground for a few minutes before being helped up.

Afterward, the all-state senior and two-way starter had ice on his knee and had a considerable limp. The severity of the injury wasn’t known after the game, but coach Dan Hinds said Kennard will likely have an MRI today.

It was the final straw of a draining night of football for both teams, but one which ultimately lived up to the early-season excitement of two teams with legitimate state championship aspirations.

Trailing 21-7 and unable to generate much offense most of the night, the Wolves got moving in the fourth quarter. Yount connected with Markus Wheaton (seven receptions, 175 yards) for 39 yards. Desert Vista was called for pass interference a couple of plays later, and Yount hit Caleve DeBoskie in the corner of the end zone, and in a tussle with the Thunder’s Anders Battle, DeBoskie managed to hold onto the ball long enough to draw a touchdown signal.

Down 21-14, the Wolves missed on the onside kick, but Desert Vista fumbled on its first play from scrimmage, and Chandler’s Tim Buron picked it up and ran 32 yards to make it 21-20 with less than three minutes left.

“I’m proud of our kids and how they found a way to come back,” Ewan said.

Chandler forced another punt, but on their own 20-yard line and needing a field goal with 1:12 left, Yount was intercepted by Battle, who snatched the ball away and did what had been done to him earlier in the quarter.

“I had to stop thinking so much and go get it,” Battle said. “I put my hands up and it was there. That was it.”

Though tied 7-7 at halftime, Ewan felt the game swung in Desert Vista’s favor when Chandler couldn’t score following two Thunder turnovers.

Cody Sokol came out firing in the second half for the Thunder and hit Casey Bolena five times in the second half, including two touchdowns. Kennard and Co. wreaked havoc on Chandler’s offensive front, and when he scored from 19 yards out midway through the third quarter, Desert Vista had a 21-7 lead.

If only the next 15 minutes were that simple.

“That was not how we planned it,” Hinds said. “We were fortunate to hold on. I’m spent and the players weren’t happy, and that’s why I like these guys.”