A duel of 6-1 teams will unfold Thursday as the Desert Ridge Jaguars and the Mountain Pointe Pride face off in Phoenix.

Both teams have only found themselves on the losing end once this season but that doesn’t mean these teams haven’t had their share of adversity to toughen them up.

Mountain Pointe is fresh off a close 14-13 win over Highland, and Desert Ridge has rattled off four straight convincing wins since their worst showing of the year, a 52-28 loss at Hamilton.

The Pride has two running backs with over 70 carries and 500 yards in addition to quarterback Nick Wallerstedt’s 412 rushing yards. Those two running backs, senior Gary Bragg and junior Jakim McKinney, have combined for 15 touchdowns and 1,330 yards, according to MaxPreps.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys that need to learn to wrap up,” Jaguars head coach Jeremy Hathcock said, “Because those kids, if you don’t wrap them up, they’re going to go for 60 at least.”

According to MaxPreps, Mountain Pointe has rushed for an average of 295 yards per game behind the team’s overpowering offensive line.

 “Their O-line is better than other teams we’ve played, so I just have to play harder,” Jaguar defensive end Desha Bennett said.

“They’ve got three or four dynamic running backs and a big O-line and they execute their offense to a T,” Desert Ridge defensive coordinator Travis Jackson said, “When you play Mountain Point you know you’re going to get hit in the mouth for 4 quarters of football. They’re the most physical team in Arizona bar none.”

Last week when the Pride offense had a rough stretch, which included back to back drive ending turnovers, spectators were reminded Mountain Pointe is more than just an offensive team by limiting Highland to just 13 points.

“Their defense is unbelievable,” Hathcock said, “They have seven three-year starters returning on defense. They’re really fast, they’re really experienced and they’re hard to fool.”

On the opposite sideline, the Jaguars rushing attack, led by senior running back/linebacker Tyrese Allen and sophomore running back Deonce Elliot, may not have as gaudy stats as the Pride but it is no doubt the backbone of the offense and what the Mountain Pointe defense will try to reign in.

“They’re nothing I haven’t seen before,” Allen said, “Mountain Point is always a tough team.”

 Allen has a team high 511 rushing yards and nine touchdowns according to MaxPreps.

“I think we’ve done a good job around here giving them battles over the years,” coach Jackson said and this indeed is looking to be quite a battle of well rounded teams looking to avoid a second loss on the season.