Red Mountain had a battle on its hands with Cesar Chavez in the middle of the second quarter on Friday night, managing a 17-14 lead. But thanks to a trio of miscues from the Champions' punt game the Mountain Lions gradually took charge and ran away to their second victory of the season.

Seven different players scored among Red Mountain's eight touchdowns as the Mountain Lions posted a 59-27 triumph over Cesar Chavez in a 6A contest at Red Mountain.

Red Mountain rolled up 423 yards of offense, about 250 of that in the second half. Its 17-14 advantage came courtesy of a nifty 80-yard, 9-play march to open the game for 7-0 lead. The offense, however, benefitted much of the rest of the opening half thanks to a low snap on a punt attempt, a short 23-yard punt and a punt that caromed off Chavez's blocker that put the Mountain Lions in position for their next three scores. A long pick-6 with less than a minute left in the first half gave Red Mountain a bulging 31-14 edge at intermission.

"We preach the team concept, we have the word together, outside the locker room" Red Mountain coach Mike Peterson said. "Last week (receiver) Ramses Rivera was bracketed by the defense and we went to other guys in the passing game. Rivera had a good night tonight. We spread it around. Our offense was good tonight and improving, and that's great."

The Red Mountain offensive honor roll played out like this:

Senior quarterback Hyrum Boren completed 13 of 24 passes for 215 yard and two touchdowns. He rushed for another.

Senior running back Deonce Elliott rushed eight times for 101 yards and two touchdowns - the last one a 57-yard scamper.

Senior Rivera caught three passes for 95 yards and a TD. His catches were big gainers - 31, 28 and 36.

Receiver-safety George Rivera caught three passes for 51 yards, but his lunging interception late in the first half turned into a pretty 52-yard INT TD return that took wind out of Cesar Chavez's sails at the midpoint.

Receiver-defensive back Daniel Butler contributed with an alert, mid-air fumble recovery for a TD for the game's first score as Boren was hammered just short of paydirt and the ball popped out and forward about eight yards into Butler's waiting arms in the end zone. Butler also had a pick in the final quarter and his return set up the game's final score -- a 27-yard scoring strike from backup quarterback Evan Svoboda to Jackson Beecher.

Kicker Conner Gardner was steady as well for the Mountain Lions. He converted all eight PAT's and drilled a 33-yard field goal in the first half.

Red Mountain did most of its damage through the air in the first half, but its ground game found success in the second half.

"We wanted to open up by establishing the run," Peterson said. "We were a little slow with that. They run a seven-man front, a 5--2, and we knew we could get some things going over the the top if we had to. Did better running it as the game went on."

Cesar Chavez, which dropped to 1-1 after opening the season with a dominating 53-0 win over visiting East High of Anchorage, moved the ball off on and on. When it did the yardage came in big chunks. Senior quarterback  Lucas Arnds passed for 327 yards and two TDs and ran for another score. He completed 16 of 37 passes with three picks. The Champions averaged 20 yards per reception.

Arnds favorite targets were two - senior wide out Deavon Crawford - five catches for 138 yards and one TD and senior wide out Jaleel Walker - seven receptions for 132 yards.

Red Mountain faces its toughest test next week hosting Perry, which bounced back from an opening loss to top Mountain View. Cesar Chavez returns home to face 1-1 Queen Creek.