Olivia Eisenhauer is a Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Corona del Sol for AZPreps365.com

TEMPE, Ariz.-- A 6A East Valley football face-off took place under Friday night lights in Tempe on the home turf of Corona Del Sol. Coming into the matchup, Mesa was looking for it’s first win in the region and the Aztecs looking to add to an undefeated record. 

The Aztecs, led by starting quarterback Connor Ackerly, connected for five touchdowns before the half. Coming into Friday, the sophomore at the helm of the offense averaged the same number in the span of just a game. 

Junior Jonathan Kubat led the team with four touchdowns, followed by one for senior Jeff Lambert and Ackerly.

“I just had a bunch more confidence than the last few weeks,” Ackerly said. “[It] really built off Skyline [High School], Skyline really helped with that confidence.”

Junior running back Jovin Gomez, who had 21 receiving yards and also three tackles with one for loss, also spoke on the confidence factor.

“We didn’t have a great start to the season," Gomez said. "But [we're] coming off two wins and we have the biggest game of the [season] next week so we’ve just gotta keep the ball rolling.”

The efforts were paralleled on the defense for the first half, as well. On the game, senior Tristan van dam had two interceptions and senior Theren White had two fumble recoveries. The defense held Mesa's passing attack to a single touchdown, two interceptions and a .720 completion percentage. 

Corona Del Sol went into the locker room at the half time in front of the home crowd and were ahead 35-0. 

Faces changed coming out of the half with senior Kaden Lentz coming in at quarterback for the Aztecs and several others to get reps before the much-anticipated Williams Field High School matchup next week. Lentz connected with junior running back Jonathan Kubat with 8:24 left in the third quarter making it 42-0.

Mesa got on the board just over a minute of play later with the touchdown from junior Manny Pino for the Jackrabbits and then senior quarterback Cy Schmaltz ran in the last action of the game. With the failed two-point conversion attempt and unsuccessful onside kick to follow, Mesa faltered to Corona del Sol 42-13. 

“This week of practice was a good one for us, it was the best one we’ve had all season,” Aztec head coach Jon Becktold said. “We play Williams Field next week and we have a lot of work to do and hopefully momentum [from] winning two games helps us moving forward.”

The Aztecs (2-4) travel to take on Williams Field (4-2) next on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 at 7 p.m. out of the 6A Fiesta region.