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

The Mountain Pointe Pride beat the Desert Vista Thunder 21-16 in their Friday night rivalry battle to end the regular season.

The series between the two schools was 13-13 but with the Pride winning, they now have a 14-13 lead and take home the "Ahwatukee Bowl" trophy.

The Pride is now 6-4 overall as it moves into the playoffs.

The rushing attack for the Pride continued to dominate as they leaned on their 'wildcat' offense throughout the game.

“It (wildcat offense) does a lot of things, it can eat clock for you, it adds a runner, more things can go wrong when you throw the ball rather than when you run it,” head coach Eric Lauer said.

This type of offense fits junior running back/slot receiver A’Lysha “Zeke” Rodriguez perfectly. He accounted for 180 of the team’s 304 rushing yards. He also had two touchdowns. Mountain Pointe finished with 340 total yards.

With Rodriguez and four-star running back Christian Clark in the backfield together every play was not easy for the Thunder’s defense.

“We just tried to dominate every single play while driving the ball down the field,” Rodriguez said. “I knew how important this game was so I had to step up for my guys.”

The junior did more than just step up for his team as he scored back-to-back rushing touchdowns in the first half putting the Pride up 14-3.

The Thunder (2-8) did not go away easily, delivering on an 87-yard second-quarter drive that ended with sophomore running back Kyler Drunasky scoring.

Despite a Desert Vista field goal to begin the second half - which cut the lead to just one - Mountain Pointe’s wildcat offense continued to be too much for the Thunder, as Clark answered with an explosive 27-yard touchdown run, putting the Pride up 21-13.

After holding the Thunder to yet another field goal, making the score 21-16 in the fourth quarter, the Pride were forced to punt the giving Desert Vista a chance to win.

However, the Pride’s defense did not budge, making a statement as they turned the Thunder over on downs, ending the game and making them ‘Tukee Bowl’ victors.

“Our mindset every week is to go face whoever we play and beat them,” sophomore linebacker and team captain Jaylyn Colter said. “This was a big step and gave us the strength we needed heading into the playoffs.”

While the Pride had already clinched a playoff spot regardless of the game’s outcome, the win was crucial for the team’s confidence and energy.

“We didn’t want to crawl into the playoffs; we wanted to have that momentum,” Lauer said. “We were able to get ahead and stay ahead, and we’re grateful for that as a team.” 

This season has not been perfect, but now it must set its sights on the playoffs for a possible deep run.

The win has helped gain some momentum as they hope to keep rolling with their dominant defensive play and lethal rushing attack.