Dominic Contini is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chaparral High School for AZPreps365.com

Following last week's game and Friday night’s opening drive against the Mountain Pointe Pride on defense, it looked like it may be another rough night for the Chaparral Firebirds.

Last week, Chaparral gave up a record-breaking performance by Williams Field junior running back Dylan Lee, who rushed for 518 yards and five touchdowns.

However, the Firebirds responded to defeat Mountain Pointe, 31-13, as senior quarterback Miles VandenHeuvel scored four total touchdowns in the road victory.

“That’s what the season is all about, you learn some lessons, you move on, you know last week was ugly for us," Chaparral head coach Brent Barnes said. "Our guys got back to work, picked themselves up off the ground and played a much better football game tonight.”

Mountain Pointe junior running back Randle Parker ran all over Chaparral on that opening drive the capped with a 3-yard touchdown run.

The Firebirds gave up 87 yards to Parker in the first half alone.

Chaparral started off the game going three-and-out on their first offensive drive with sophomore Bryce Herges at quarterback.

The Firebirds capitalized on the turnover on downs by Mountain Pointe with a rushing touchdown by VandenHeuvel with 28 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

VandenHeuvel finished with three passing touchdowns and one rushing on the night after coming off the bench on the Firebirds’ second offensive drive.

“They didn’t start me in this game, and honestly it was what I needed, and I balled out,” said a motivated VandenHeuvel. “Shoutout to our o-line and defense who both played a great game.” 

Herges only saw the field for that one drive in the first half as VandenHeuvel held the throne for the rest of the game.

Right before the end of the first quarter, Parker took a 67-yard run to put the Pride inside the red zone.  Following Parker’s big run,  junior running back Christian Clark put the final touches on the Pride’s quick drive with a rushing touchdown.

However, the Firebirds’ special teams blocked the PAT.

VandenHeuvel, the Firebirds’ dual-threat quarterback, is a dual threat for a reason as he threw a beautiful ball to junior wide receiver Plas Johnson in the back corner of the endzone, giving Chaparral a 14-13 lead with 4:40 remaining in the half.

In a highly defensive start to the second half, neither team scored in the first seven minutes of the third quarter, with both teams being forced to punt on their first drives.

Chaparral was the first to score in the second half as VandenHeuvel connected with sophomore receiver Gavin Mesa on a 9-yard touchdown pass to give Chaparral a 21-13 lead with 4:57 left in the third.

Mountain Pointe only touched the ball once in the third quarter while Chaparral dominated the time of possession. Junior kicker Keegan Shank capped a long, enduring drive with a 24-yard field goal to put Chaparral up, 24-13, with 10:17 remaining in the game.

“The first drive was awful, they ran all over us, he [Randle Parker] was running us over, had a number of big runs in the first half but the last three quarters we didn’t give up a point,” said Chaparral defensive coordinator Derrick Nsubuga said. “We were more physical, we were more nasty in the second half.” 

The Firebirds’ second-half dominance continued late in the fourth quarter with another VandenHeuvel-to-Johnson passing touchdown, giving the Firebirds an insurmountable 31-13 lead with 3:54 left.

Johnson finished with two receiving touchdowns on the night.

Now 2-1, Chaparral heads into rivalry week to face Desert Mountain.