GIBERT – There are two unbeaten teams left in 6A Arizona high school football. By the end of Friday night, only one will still have an unblemished record.

Gilbert schools Perry (5-0) and Highland (5-0) will put their perfect seasons on the line when they meet this week at John Wren Stadium.

Perry has breezed through the first half of its schedule thanks to its high octane offense. Led by senior quarterback Brock Purdy, the Pumas have scored at least 49 points in every game this fall. Purdy has found the end zone 25 total times, and is second in all of 6A football with 1,438 passing yards.

“We know he’s got plenty of talent,” Pumas receiver Colby Dickie said of his quarterback. “We know that if we run our right routes, he’s going to get the ball there. Our offense works well with him.”

Dickie has been a key part of the Perry attack this season too, leading the team with 16 receptions. He sees his team’s deep group of receivers as an important part of the Pumas’ first half success.

“We get more important as the season goes on,” he said of his pass-catching teammates. “Each person has their role, and if they do their role then the offense works. I do my role and it works out well.”

The usually high-scoring unit will be tested by Highland this week. The Hawks have been dominant defensively thus far, holding their opponents to less than 12 points per game.

“They cause turnovers. They have a lot of takeaways this season,” Perry coach Preston Jones said of his unbeaten opponent. “We’ve seen their third and long defense quite a bit, so they put people in bad positions. They are reliant a lot on their defense, and for a good reason.”

Asked if Highland has the best defense in the state, Jones responded: “I would have to say it’s the best defense we have seen on film.”

Highland’s defense has needed to be great. The Hawks offense has scored 30 or more points just once this season, but the back end has continually impressed, highlighted by a shutout of Skyline and a 6-points-against stifling of Brophy.

“They’re good, they are sound in what they do and they play hard,” Jones said. “They don’t give up big plays is one of the other big things.”

With the potential of a defensive battle breaking out of Friday night, Perry’s own defense might be heavily relied upon for the first time this fall.

“We have got to come out working hard like we usually do,” Perry defensive lineman Jobiin Sweatt said, whose three tackles for loss lead the team. “(This week) is definitely going to be harder than the rest of the games. It’s going to be a fight.”

The matchup with Highland kicks off a tough second half schedule for Perry. After next week’s bye, the school will face Chandler, Brophy, and Hamilton in consecutive weeks. Those three teams have eight combined wins in 2017, the same amount of victories the school’s opening five opponents have managed.

A first half full of cupcake games is over, but Jones doesn’t want to do too much tweaking to his team’s preparation.

“We are staying the course,” he said. “We always do a few things here or there. Regular practice, regular offense, regular defense.”

Jones thinks that despite his team’s record there is still room to improve. The challenge now becomes balancing the group’s focus between their own flaws and what its opponents will bring to the table.

“We have to be realistic. We have to know what their strengths are, what we feel their weaknesses are,” Jones said. “If their defense is stout, then we need to make sure our defense has stops and our offense has got to get first downs and take advantage of opportunities and try to wear them down. We have to be real disciplined on offense in order to sustain drives.”