It's the kind of game that ages a coach...and toughens a team.

The Phoenix High School football team followed up a forgettable first half with two quarters of inspired play to nip South Umpqua 28-27 in a non-league game in Tri City on Saturday afternoon.

Postponed on Friday due to poor air quality, the game matched up a pair of 1-1 teams closing out the non-league season. When it was over, the Pirates had a victory to build on for the remainder of 2017. PHS scored all of its points in the second half, taking the lead late in the fourth quarter. Chase Courtney hauled in a pair of scoring passes from Javan Gail in the fourth quarter, putting Phoenix up 28-21. South Umpqua responded with a scoring drive of its own and attempted to win the game with a two-point conversion. While the Lancers completed a short pass on the attempt, the receiver was barely out of bounds.

South Umpqua successfully recovered an onside kick and had the ball back with less than minute to play. The Phoenix defense stopped the final drive to seal the victory, taking a 2-1 non-league mark into Friday's Skyline Conference opener at home against Mazama.

Gail and Jonathan Halligan combined to put Phoenix on the board early in the third quarter, connecting on a four-yard scoring pass to cut the lead to 14-7. SU responded with a 91-yard kickoff return by Jonathan Warner. From there Phoenix took the game over, slowing the Lancers' spread offense while exposing soft spots in the SU defense. Gail ran for a seven-yard score before finding Courtney on eight- and 31-yard scoring passes to put the Pirates up 28-21 and set the stage for the wild finish.

Gail threw for 172 yards and ran for 53. Courtney caught eight passes for 108 yards and Jacky Hawkins hauled in three passes for 65 yards. Priscila Espana connected on all four extra points for the Pirates, who jumped to 14th in the 4A rankings with the road victory.