Red Mountain took a big step towards a potential Open playoff berth Thursday night.

There's still a lot of football left, but thanks to a dominant second half performance, the Mountain Lions bruised and bullied their way to a 28-11 victory over Highland in a crucial 6A East Valley Region contest at Jim Jones field in Mesa.

Red Mountain (6-0, 2-0) controlled the second half with dominant play at the line of scrimmage. Running back Jackson Bogle scored two third quarter touchdowns while Red Mountain's defense shut down Highland's defense for most of the final three quarters. Quarterback Simon Lopez didn't have a prolific night throwing the ball, but his 31-yard touchdown run in the second quarter demonstrated his big play ability. 

Despite all its success over the years, it's the first time in school history Red Mountain has started 6-0.

The defining drive of the night came in the fourth quarter when Red Mountain took over with a 25-11 lead. The Lions took posession with just under 9:00 in the game and chewed up 7:33 of clock right at the heart of the Highland defense. A Michael Singh field goal sealed the game with 1:33 to play.

The Hawks (6-1, 0-1) knew Red Mountain would be running the ball, but they couldn't stop it.

"That was my favorite drive of the whole game," said Red Mountain coach Kyle Enders.

"This is a big win and we needed it. (Highland) had gotten us the last four times we've played. It's really big for the kids like I said. They know a lot of those guys...and they've had our number, knocking us out in the semifinals twice, and most of these kids were a part of all that."

 

 

Highland had taken four recent games from Red Mountain going back to the 2021 6A semifinals. But after the Hawks took an early 8-0 lead on an impressive opening drive, the Mountain Lions turned the tide of the game and recently rivalry. 

How It Happened

Highland quarterback Kalen Fisher and the offense looked sharp early. The Hawks drove 84 yards on their opening drive, with Fisher completing passes on three different third down conversions. The biggest was a 17-yard completion to Jalen Cross on a third and 16 from Red Mountain's 21. That set up a four yard scoring pass to junior Max Brown. A two-point conversion run from Gavin Priest gave the Hawks an 8-0 lead.

After Highland's defense forced a quick three and out, it almost felt as if the Hawks mastery of Red Mountain was inevitable. But the Mountain Lions forced a punt on Highland's next posession and started moving the ball. Michael Singh drilled a 31-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter, cutting the Hawks lead to 8-3.

After trading a few punts in the second quarter, Lopez struck with his legs. On a third down from Highland's 31, Lopez scrambled around before finding space to his left, where he raced down the sideline for the Lions first touchdown. That gave the Lions a 10-8 lead with 3:22 left in the second quarter. 

Before halftime, Highland was able to drive into Red Mountain territory, setting up a 38-yard field goal from Cade Leonard and an 11-10 halftime lead. But the tide of the game had seemingly shifted towards Red Mountain's side.

"(Highland) is a great football team and they're going to get theirs, we just had to settle into the game," Enders said of the first half.
 

 

Lion of Scrimmage

Red Mountain took control of the game in the third quarter with its physical offensive line and timely defensive plays. 

The Mountain Lions initially got another field goal from Singh two minutes into the third quarter, but a Highland penalty gave Red Mountain the option for a first down, and it took advantage. The Mountain Lions drove inside Highland's 10 before Jackson Bogle lined up in shotgun formation as the quarerback. Bogle took the direct snap and scored in two plays, and Red Mountain had gained an 18-11 lead with the two-point conversion.

Highland's offense continued struggling the remainder of the game, and failed on two different fourth down attempts in Red Mountain territory. After the Mountain Lions forced another third quarter stop, the offense executed another drive that ended the same way as the previous, with Bogle taking a direct snap from shotgun and cracking the Hawks up the middle from eight yards with 1:47 left in the third quarter. Red Mountain led 25-11 and Highland's defense was wearing down. 

"I give credit to the offensive line," Lopez said after the game. "They're amazing, they open holes for the running backs, for me in the pocket...our O-line is really what got us the win."

Red Mountain's defense held its own as well. Highland running back Kruz Cullimore was effective catching the ball out of the backfield, but the Hawks running game was held in check most of the night.

"I'm not surprised," Highland coach Brock Farrel said. "We knew how physical Red Mountain is from watching film as well as our preseason scrimmage at Mountain Pointe. We got out-physicaled on both sides of the ball, which usually doesn't happen to us, but when you don't control the line of scrimmage you don't win, especially in high school football."

Up Next

Both schools have a bye next week before resuming East Valley Region play Oct. 18. Highland hosts Williams Field and Red Mountain is at home against ALA Queen Creek.

The final four games are especially grueling for Red Mountain. After ALA QC, the Mountain Lions face Queen Creek before non-region opponents Hamilton and Mountain View. Those four teams have a combined record of 20-2.

 

Ben Stapley is a staff writer for AZPreps365. For story suggestions and human interest stories, he can be contacted at 480 295-9125 or bstapley@azpreps365.com.