The Horizon Huskies traveled to their rival, the Pinnacle Pioneers, for the final game of the regular season. Both teams were playing to be the champion of the 6A Desert Valley region.

With a win, the Huskies would take the region and set themselves up in prime position for playoffs. A Pioneers win would have them set to win the region and leave them in great shape heading into playoffs, since they are currently ranked higher than the Huskies.

With a final score of 59-7, it was clear to see the Pinnacle offense dominated the game. Quarterback Spencer Rattler threw two touchdowns over 30 yards, and five in total. The Pioneers did not get their only help from Rattler and the offense. The Huskies made unwanted mistakes throughout the entire game.

As soon as the second half started, the Huskies had seemingly lost their chance to win the contest. With sloppy mistakes ranging from turnovers to overall bad passes, there was little hope the Huskies would end up victorious.

Pinnacle capitalized on Horizon's mistakes. Early in the third quarter Huskies quarterback Isaac Enriquez fumbled on a keeper play, resulting in a 94-yard return for a Pinnacle touchdown to make the score 24-7 at that point.

Before the game got out of hand, the rivalry chants could be heard loud and clear on either side of the field. Horizon Athletic Director Hannah Pacheco expressed her own love of seeing the rivalry be passed down through each class at Horizon.

“I hope that this rivalry continues to promote school spirit on the individual campuses, promoting a fun competition between the two. Of course, it is a very emotional game, with both sides hoping they win in a heated rivalry,” said Pacheco.

Even if the rivalry has been so one-sided, counting tonight’s game the Huskies have lost 11 straight to the Pioneers.

This victory was also especially exciting for the Pioneers because it was senior night. Coach Dana Zupke expressed how senior night does not change the strategy for the contest. The game plan is still victory.

“I’m not sure senior night has an effect on the team except that those seniors may be a little more emotional knowing that their high school career is coming to an end,” said Zupke.

Now that both teams know how the region has finished they can begin to prepare for the playoffs.

With Horizon, unsure of who they will play in the playoffs, the coaching staff is confident if they can return to how they were playing before this two game slide they can win.

Lucas Ramirez, Director of Football Operations, is confident in the Huskies future in the playoffs.

“We need to keep doing what we’ve been doing. Once we figure out who we play tomorrow we can begin to game plan,” said Ramirez.

Pinnacle should have home-field advantage against whoever they play. Horizon will most likely have to play a game on the road.

But for tonight, Pinnacle claimed themselves as the champion of the 6A Desert Valley Region.