Kolby Marting is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com.

Coming off a bye week, Desert Mountain looks to keep its undefeated season going against American Leadership Academy – Gilbert North on Friday.

The Wolves (7-0) are coming off a bye week and looking to keep a perfect record in regional play. The Eagles (5-2) are coming off a blowout win against Cactus Shadows, the only team that is a common opponent for the Wolves and Eagles this season.

“[On the bye] we just really needed the rest, as the team is coming back from injuries,” senior cornerback Santana Wilson said. “Just making sure that your body is in the right spot for the week and really just making sure we go 1-0 on the week.”

Although Desert Mountain has been banged up the last couple of weeks, it hasn’t slowed them down. After pulling out a narrow victory against Horizon on the last Friday in September, they then were able to put away Cactus Shadows 31-6 before heading into their bye. ALA Gilbert North also had a very similar result against Cactus Shadows 49-21.

“Every game is its own entity in my opinion, both teams have their strengths and weaknesses,” Desert Mountain head coach Conrad Hamilton said. “Every game is its different animal, so we really don’t pay any attention, every game is different.”

While the Wolves will not only look to keep their perfect record going, they will also look to continue their defensive dominance. Throughout the season, the Wolves have yet to give up more than 22 points in a game and have only allowed teams to score more than 20 points twice.

That won’t be an easy task, however, as they take on one of the best wide receivers in their region. Brandon Phelps is averaging 123 yards per game with a total of 861 yards on the season, ranking him sixth across the entire state of Arizona, according to MaxPreps.

“We are a defensive focused team,” Hamilton said. “We don’t give up a lot of points.”

“After watching the film and really studying it, we really know what they do,” Wilson said. “So, we’ll have the right coverages and stuff to guard the receiver and just do the right thing on defense.

Desert Mountain comes as another test to see if ALA Gilbert North belongs in 5A. Two years ago, they were a 3A school before moving up to 4A last year. At the 4A level, they went 12-2 and won the 4A state championship.

“We know that they have some guys and we’re not going to take them lightly,” senior wide receiver Jack Freeburg said. “Just because they were 3A or 4A, I mean they won state championships there, so we know that they’re good.

This game will also be Desert Mountain’s homecoming celebration. The players are looking forward to the fun activities and for all the support at the game.

“It’s homecoming, hopefully the crowd being there supports us little,” Freeburg said. “The atmosphere being much better this week, I’m looking forward to that.”

The game will be played at Desert Mountain High School on Friday, October 20, at 7p.m.