Heavyn Cooke is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North High School for AZPreps365.com

After coming off a 41-21 game loss against Central on Oct. 27, North rebounded in its 35-25 win over South Mountain at home on Friday.

The Mustangs ended the season on a solid turnaround by winning five of their last seven games and finishing on a .500 record (5-5).

North began strong offensively during the first quarter. Senior cornerback and free safety player Rorion Jordan made two big plays for his team to start and close out the game. He scored a 61-yard touchdown at seven minutes left to play.  

North was challenged in the second quarter all the way to the remainder of the game to try and connect their passes to one another. The game was filled by penalties, as it seemed every possession the officials flagged both teams for either holding, false start, unsportsmanlike conduct, or roughing the passer.  

Senior safety AT Desamais, who is injured, gave a perspective of how he feels not being on the field last night to help his team and what he is reflecting about this team as they close out their season.  

“It sucks because I was in an accident and could not play through my injuries but tonight, I am going to try and be here for my boys and the other seniors to try and be a role model," Desamais said. "Tonight, I am looking forward to cherishing these bonds with the coaching staff and players because I love them to death." 

After halftime, South Mountain cut the Mustangs' 14-point lead to seven early in he third quarter. Towards the end of that period, the Mustangs fumbled the ball as time expired. That set up good field position for the beginning of the fourth where they scored a touchdown to cut the margin to one. 

Then North's Jordan caught a 90-yard TD pass to put his team up 20-13, putting the game's the momentum in the Mustang's favor. After Jordan's TD, it was a back and forth scoring match, but North prevailed.

“It feels amazing to put the team up on my back sometimes and push them to the W," Jordan said. 

North head coach Mark Meija shared his thoughts on his team performance in the season finale and how proud he is of all his players.  

“Going out on a winning note is what we wanted, that was the key and we wanted to make sure we finished the season strong and sending our seniors out on a win," Meija said. 

"A lot of dumb penalties and mistakes we do not coach we are not proud of and that was the frustrating thing to see, and we let our emotions dictate a lot, but I was proud of how they regrouped and finished.”