The Mountain Pointe Pride squeaked by the Red Mountain Mountain Lions 21-14 in Friday’s 6A state semifinal matchup at McClintock High School.

The Pride will go on to face the Chandler Wolves in the state championship game Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mountain Pointe’s Isaiah Pola-Mao caught a 59-yard touchdown pass with 6:55 left in Friday’s game for the eventual game-winning play.

But Mountain Pointe proved again that its strength is its defense, especially after a 43-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by linebacker Rashie Hodge Jr. That play extended Mountain Pointe’s lead to 14-0 at the beginning of the second quarter.

But Mountain Pointe failed to keep the momentum just before halftime after it missed a 20-yard field goal as time expired.

Red Mountain’s offense then took over, scoring 14 unanswered points in its first two second half drives. Quarterback Austin Duffy found Mack Klafter and Josh Daniels in the left corner of the end zone for both touchdowns.

While Red Mountain’s passing game was clicking, it was a different story for Mountain Pointe.

“We missed guys wide open, three or four times,” Mountain Pointe coach Norris Vaughan said. “But that dosn’t matter. We advanced.”

But the Pride had one last trick up their sleeves that proved to be the game-winner.

After a player went in motion and a misdirection handoff went to wide receiver Jaydon Brooks, it looked like Mountain Pointe would just run the ball.

Red Mountain’s secondary bit on the fake, leaving receiver Pola-Mao wide open for a pass by Brooks.

“It was a great call by the coaches," Pola-Mao said. "They saw that the corners were jumping the run, so they called a reverse pass. Just a perfect call.”

After upsetting two straight higher ranked opponents, Red Mountain’s Cinderella story ran out of magic.

“We didn’t quite get it done,” Red Mountain head coach Ron Wisneiwski said. “We had a chance to and I give our kids credit for that.”