By Don Ketchum

Scottsdale Chaparral’s Firebirds, the top football team in Class 5A Division II, know it will take a lot of hard work to stay there and win a second straight state championship. Gilbert Perry’s Pumas know it will take a lot of hard work to be at the level Chaparral is some day.

Chaparral strengthened its grip on the top spot Friday night, teaching host Perry a lesson in a 55-6 rout.

For Chaparral, it is carpe diem – seize the day.

“We want to win the day, win one practice at a time, one play at a time,’’ said Chaparral coach Charlie Ragle, whose team climbed to 6-0 and is averaging 50 points per game. “If we do that, the big stuff (the whole game) takes care of itself.’’

Ragle said his team didn’t necessarily have extra motivation because Perry was 5-0 entering the game.

“We don’t worry about that,’’ Ragle said. “It was the third time in a row we’ve gone against an unbeaten team. We just control what we can control.’’

And Chaparral was in control of Perry from the beginning, as it was on two occasions in 2009 (regular season and playoffs).

Quarterback Connor Brewer scored on an 8-yard run with 4:27 left in the first quarter to begin the proceedings, and his teammates took over from there. Slot receiver-back Davonte Neal scored three touchdowns.

He scored out of the Wildcat formation, taking the direct snap and speeding 31 yards into the end zone. He took a pitch and scored on a 7-yard run to make it 28-0 with 6:20 left in the first half, and scored on a 20-yard pass from Brewer with 6:13 left in the third quarter to make it 42-0.

While the Chaparral offense was prolific, the offense was downright stingy.

It held Perry to 77 yards in the first half, 55 in the second. Perry’s lack of speed was evident as it could not get outside before being chased down. Cedric Simmons, Perry’s heralded running back, gained just 24 yards on 12 carries, including minus-1 yard on two carries in the second half.

Perry managed to salvage a glimmer of hope with a 1-yard scoring run by Max Arredondo to cap a 12-play, 80-yard drive with 6:09 left in the game.

“We have to have a short memory because we have a tough opponent (Tempe Marcos de Niza) next week,’’ said Perry coach Preston Jones.

Down 35-0 at halftime, he told his team that it needed to show character when the chips were down.

“The trick is to not be too high with the highs or too low with the lows, and this definitely was a low,’’ he said. “This (coming) week, we will work like we did this last week and work like we did the week before. One game doesn’t break a season.’’