La Joya Community showed off its athleticism on both sides of the ball while defeating Shadow Ridge 33-14 Friday night in Surprise.

Runn back/safety Deandre Robinson, who sealed the victory with a pick-6, was difficult to contain.

The fast and tough Robinson shed off tacklers during a 26-yard-run to set up La Joya’s second touchdown, a 10-yard pass from senior Miguel Valdovinos to Israel Yturralde to the back of the end zone.

Valdovinos led a poised offense with an offensive line that is strong and consistent and Valdovinos trusts.

“The line fought the entire game, and I am thankful to have those guys,” he said. “When offense struggled tonight in the second half, defense got it done and I appreciate their hard work.”

Running back Alfred Jordan of La Joya collected two touchdowns in the game and also exhibited his athleticism while breaking away from tacklers to find the end zone.

On defense, La Joya coach Devin Dourisseau's team brought constant pressure by loading the box with seven because of the talent the team has in the secondary.

“We can play man and bring the pressure and give the defense more than it can handle because I have guys that can cover on the back end and those four guys can really play the ball and make plays,” he said. “We can bring the blitz and pressure from all sides, and I don’t have to worry about getting in space, which allows us to be more aggressive and take more chances defensively.”

Shadow Ridge coach Bob Chappelle knew heading into the game that La Joya would load the box.

“We knew they would bring pressure and the first half we tried to run some things and realized they were too quick,” Chappelle said. “We had to lean on our big guys and started running the football, but when you put yourself in a 21-0 hole, and you are a run heavy team, it is difficult to dig yourself out.”

The only offensive score of the game for Shadow Ridge was executed by quarterback Kaiden Lansford while pounding the ball up the middle in the red zone.

The scoring drive took six plays, dominated mostly by solid running from junior back Jacob Thurman.

“We had some calls not go our way, but I’m proud of our guys for playing hard for 48 minutes,” Chappelle said. “La Joya is a very good offensive team and the guys played tough against them.”

The win for La Joya (6-2 overall, 3-0) sets up a big showdown for first place on Friday against the Southwest Region’s reigning king, Westview (4-4, 3-0), which will attempt to win its 50 consecutive region game.