Ben Parks is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Ridge High School for AZPreps365.

The Desert Ridge Jaguars varsity football team opened its season with a 49-8 win over 5A opponent Cienega on August 25.

After the season opener, though, they found themselves on a four-game losing streak. The Jaguars came up just short in two of their losses: a 36-30 loss against Red Mountain and a 30-22 loss against Mountain View. Halfway through the season, they were standing at 1-4.

But the Jaguars remained resilient. Led by head coach Roy Lopez, they won their next two games at home against regional opponents Caesar Chavez and Tolleson, where they allowed only 14 points and improved to 3-4.

Although the Tolleson game was the last home game of the regular season, Desert Ridge can not only still make the 6A playoffs, but possibly have a home game.

As of October 19, AZPreps365 ranks Desert Ridge 22nd in 6A. But with five 6A teams currently set to play in the open division playoffs, the Jaguars are 17th in 6A teams, and only the top 16 qualify.

The Jaguars' next opponent, Westwood, is currently ranked 25th. Mesa is ranked one spot above Desert Ridge at 21st, and the two teams are separated by a difference of 0.1784 in the AIA ratings. The Jaguars' final opponent Highland is ranked sixth, just outside of qualifying for open division.

Desert Ridge plays two more regional games against Westwood this Friday and Mesa the following week before the final game of the season against Highland.

With only three games left, the Jaguars are coming off the bye week where they were able to get extra practice in and prepare for their playoff push on the road.

“If we can win big over the next two, and then go into Highland with some momentum, anything goes with the way the boys want to play against Highland,” Lopez said after the Tolleson win on October 6.

Desert Ridge most recently made the playoffs in the 2021-22 season as the No. 12 seed, which was quarterback Major Wootan’s first year as the varsity starter. Now in his senior season, Wootan looks to lead his team back to the 6A tournament.

“We just got to finish, especially red zone stuff,” Wootan said. “We got good first drives, good second drives, we just have to execute third downs and execute in the red zone.”