Salah Awwad is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism Student assigned to cover Mountain Pointe High School for AZPreps365.com

The Mountain Pointe Pride defeated the Corona del Sol Aztecs in a dominating fashion, during their 38-13 win Friday night.

After being down 13-7 in the first half due to some poor mistakes, the Pride did not deviate from their game plan, scoring 31 unanswered points.

Mountain Pointe is 5-2 overall. 

The Aztecs failed to score in the second half.

“At halftime, I told the team we’re just gonna keep doing what we’re doing, we’re gonna be more deliberate about running the ball, clean up the plays we are running, and finish strong,“ head coach Eric Lauer said.

Mountain Pointe’s ground attack proved to be too much for the Aztecs as they had 347 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Despite senior running back/linebacker Randle Parker going down with an injury in the first half after a big run, the Pride depended on a 1-2 punch out of the backfield that the Aztecs could not contain.

Pride senior running back and team captain Christian Clark totaled 171 rushing yards and had two rushing touchdowns.

“I knew I had to run with a purpose. I was trying to run through every defender in my face and was not trying to lose this game,” Clark said. “Last year, we lost to them and it was a bad taste in our mouth so we had to get back for that.“

Fellow running back/slot receiver A'Lysha "Zeke" Rodriguez had 107 yards on the ground as well as two touchdowns. The Pride ran their offense through the duo and were very successful in it.

“It’s like a brotherly love with Christian,” Rodriguez said. “I believe that we’re the best running backs in the state, honestly.  I think the mix of speed and physicality is what makes us a great duo.”

After a third-quarter Clark touchdown put the Pride up 17-13, Pride safety Rylon Dillard-Allen intercepted Aztecs quarterback Connor Ackerley for a pick-six, putting the Pride up 24-13.

It was Dillard’s second game with the team due to the transfer rule, where he had to sit out the first five games. During last week’s bye week, the Pride got a host of key players through the transfer rule.

One transfer is Jaylyn Colter, a sophomore linebacker, who is expected to have an immediate impact. Colter, who has now played two games, was named a team captain in his first season after transferring from Chaparral High School, where he led them in tackles as a freshman.

“The mindset I had was to just pick my teammates up, make sure everything was going good,” Colter said. “I knew we had to come out on defense and lock in.”

To finish off its strong second-half performance, Rodriguez scored back-to-back rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter, putting the team up 38-13. The final touchdown came with just seven seconds left.

Mountain Pointe will attempt to keep that momentum going when it travels to face Salpointe Catholic in Tucson next week.

“We’ll celebrate tonight and then we gotta worry about a bigtime Salpointe Catholic team next week,“ Lauer said.