Brock Purdy, the pride of Queen Creek and Gilbert Perry High School, is going to the Super Bowl as quarterback of the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers.

The second-year pro shined in the second half of the biggest game of his career to date, which will now be on Feb. 11 in Las Vegas in Super Bowl 58.

Purdy led the 49ers to come-from-behind 34-31 win over the Detroit Lions in Sunday's NFC Championship game at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. Injured early in last year's NFC title game at Philadelphia, a game the 49ers lost, Purdy got the job done and led a comeback from a 17-point deficit at halftime.

It's the former Iowa State star's second comeback in as many weeks, after he led San Francisco to a 24-21 win in the divisional round last weekend.

Purdy wasn't the only 49er with ties to Arizona to come up big. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, a former Arizona State star, made the catch of the day when he brought in a tipped ball for a 51-yard gain in the third quarter, and a few plays later caught a touchdown pass from Purdy.

"Before the game, a ladybug landed on my shoe," Aiyuk said in a postgame interview, asked about how he made that big catch.

The 49ers scored 27 unanswered points and held on after a late Detroit touchdown, ensuring that the Lions remained the only NFC team never to make it to a Super Bowl. All-everything running back Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns for the 49ers, who got to their second Super Bowl in the last five seasons.

Purdy was also a factor with his legs. He had a 21-yard run, part of his 51 rushing yards in the second half, on third-and-4 late in the fourth quarter. That play set up a short touchdown run for Elijah Mitchell.

Jameson Williams caught a touchdown from Jared Goff with 56 seconds to play, but it was too little, too late for the Lions.

The 49ers are 5-2 in Super Bowls all time, but have lost their last two. They'll get a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated San Francisco 31-20 in Super Bowl 54 in South Florida.

A tale of two halves

The Lions offense could hardly be stopped in a first half that saw the underdogs grab a 24-7 lead going into halftime, before the 49ers came back in the third quarter.

Detroit racked up 148 rushing yards in the first half, the quickness and power of their running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery finding holes and running room against former Arizona Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks' 49ers defense.

Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, one of five Lions to earn All-Pro honors, was a thorn in the side of the San Francisco secondary with five catches for 73 yards at halftime.

Detroit was 5 of 7 on third downs and had 280 yards of offense through 30 minutes. The half came to an end with Lions fans at Levi's Stadium chanting "Jared Goff! Jared Goff!" for the Detroit quarterback, a native of nearby Novato, Calif.

The Lions could smell it. But a fateful decision to go for a first down with a two-score lead in the third quarter backfired.

Detroit Rocks City (By the Bay)

The Lions shocked the home crowd, and clearly the 49ers, with a trick play that went for a 42-yard touchdown on the opening offensive series of the game less than two minutes in. Who thought Williams would score the first TD of the NFC title game?

Things couldn't have gone much worse for the 49ers, who drove for a field goal attempt after Williams' touchdown but Jake Moody missed from 48 yards. The Lions responded with another touchdown drive for a 14-0 lead with 2:34 to go in the first quarter, their running game and offense gashing the 49ers defense for six plays of 10 or more yards in Detroit's first two possessions.

Purdy and the 49ers completely turned things around after halftime, however.

Non-football broadcast highlights

Luis Fonsi, the guy who brought us all that hit song "Despacito" in 2017 (before Justin Bieber re-did it in English) delivered a smooth national anthem wearing a 49ers jersey. And then it was time to play football.

Song breaks going to commercials after scores or changes of possession were Detroit and San Francisco Bay Area-themed, featuring Bob Seger (a Detroit native) and Motown legends Martha and the Vandellas, the Greg Kihn Band (San Francisco) and Detroit rapper Eminem, who was photographed giving 49ers fans a pair of middle fingers (as seen on X/Twitter).

Journey, a legendary San Franciso band, was heard playing in the background during the FOX halftime show.

A teary-eyed Lions fan and the embrace between Purdy and head coach Kyle Shanahan highlighted the postgame scenes.

Greenlaw's scary stinger, 'Rodrigo' picks off fellow late-rounder

One of the game's scariest moments was when standout 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw delivered a hit to the Lions' Sam LaPorta after a catch. It was Greenlaw who got up with his shoulder dipped in pain, struggling to get off the field.

The good news was that Greenlaw suffered a stinger of some kind but was able to return to the game for the next defensive series.

In the second quarter, second-year linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, a former Lions sixth-round draft pick from 2022, intercepted 2022 seventh-rounder Purdy. The turnover led to a Gibbs touchdown.

Rodriguez was affectionately nicknamed "Rodrigo" by head coach Dan Campbell during HBO's Hard Knocks reality series featuring the Lions in August 2022.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rapid reactions and highlights from Sunday's NFC Championship game