As the clock had only just began ticking down from 15:00 in the first quarter of their recent matchup against Corona del Sol High School, the Desert Ridge Jaguars were about to do what they have done best this season: take the lead and not give it back.

The opening kickoff bounced between the legs of one Jaguar into the hands of return man Deonce Elliot.

“I remember last minute cutting across the field,” Elliot said, “I saw the open grass and I broke through and the crowd was going crazy.”

Only one play had passed and the offense hadn’t seen the field yet, but Desert Ridge was already on the scoreboard with Elliot’s touchdown, his first of two on the night. And it would be a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

This has been the story of Jaguars games for much of this season.

Ultimately it comes down to two reasons why Desert Ridge has been so dominant on their way to a 6-1 record: the offense’s ability to put up an insurmountable lead early in the game and the defense’s ability to halt a second half comeback before it ever gets off the ground.

“We’re a first quarter and third quarter team,” Jaguars head coach Jeremy Hathcock said. “We give teams new looks to start and come out hard in the third quarter and take care of business.”

“Our plays are our plays but we try to change all our sets depending on who we’re playing,” Hathcock explained, “The key to great defense is anticipation and to take that away from them and make them think, then we feel like we’re doing our job.”

The strategy has paid dividends for Desert Ridge so far as they have averaged just over 28 points in the first half alone this season and have only trailed at halftime once in their six wins. That one time being the very first game of the season, a game they would end up winning 30-21, thanks in part to a second half shutout by the Jaguar defense. 

Desert Ridge’s defense was starting 10 sophomores due to injury just over a month ago but has only given up 8 total third quarter points in their six wins combined.

“Its one of the two most important drives of the game, the start of the 3rd quarter,” defensive coordinator Travis Jackson said, “Change the momentum your way or have momentum taken from you.”

Jackson’s halftime message has been instilled into his young defense.

“Coach Jackson always prepares us at halftime to come out and smack them in the mouth,” linebacker Tyrese Allen said, “He always tells us that’s the most important drive of the game to get a 3 and out and crush their morale”

While Desert Ridge’s offensive and defensive statistics in the fourth quarter appear far less impressive on paper, that can largely be attributed to the trying to kill the clock and resting starters when the game is out of reach for the opposing team.

“It can hurt us when we put some guys in to decrease injuries,” Jackson said, “A lot of the fourth quarter is just trying to keep kids healthy and get kids out of the game.”

Garbage time stats aside, the Jaguars appear to have a winning combination with this year’s offense and defense as the season begins to wind down. However tougher matchups lie ahead as they prepare to play 6-1 Mountain Pointe and begin to look toward the playoffs where teams might not be so easily put away in the first half like Desert Ridge has grown so accustomed to.