The highly anticipated clash between Desert Ridge High School and Mountain Pointe High School was nothing short of a thriller with more twists and turns than a M. Night Shyamalan movie.

The Desert Ridge Jaguars emerged victorious 31-20 over the Mountain Pointe Pride after coming back from a 10-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter.

As the Pride secondary gave fits to Desert Ridge quarterbacks Cooper Schmidt and Matthew Purnell, who combined for four interceptions, the Jaguars turned to junior running back Lucas Wright.

“He had the break out game that we’d been waiting on,” Jaguars coach Jeremy Hathcock said.

The team relied heavily on Wright on his way to a big day, which included a 42-yard catch on third down and a touchdown on his way to over 100 yards from scrimmage.

“They put up a fight,” Wright said, “I just took advantage. The lineman made great blocks.”

Mistakes were abundant early in the game for both teams.

On their first possession the Pride marched down to the red zone to capitalize on an opening drive interception thrown by the Jaguars. That is, until senior running back Gary Bragg fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Desert Ridge’s Donjae Logan.

After trading field goals and a breakaway 42-yard run from Wright, senior running back Tyrese Allen was able to punch the ball in from the 3-yard line give the Jaguars a 10-3 lead.

The two ensuing drives by Mountain Pointe resulted in punts, putting Desert Ridge in good position to add to one last score before halftime with just over a minute to go.

On very first play of the drive Mountain Pointe senior defensive back Delano Salgado made a leaping interception over a pile of players on a screen pass gone wrong that gave life back to the Pride.

Mountain Pointe knocked a field goal and went into halftime now only down four points at 10-6 and ready to receive the ball after half.

The Pride came out swinging in the second half and scored a touchdown on two of their first three drives. The touchdown runs by junior running back Jakim McKinney and junior quarterback Nick Wallerstedt put the Pride on top 20-10 heading into the fourth.

In the fourth, the Jaguars found themselves on third down at their own 47 and 13 yards away from a first down.

In a desperate situation, Schmidt was pressured and scrambled to the right before firing off a bomb deep along the sideline into the hands of Wright for 42 yards who was tackled down at the 11-yard line.

Two plays later Wright punched the ball in himself to put Desert Ridge within three.

After back-to-back three and outs by the Pride, the ball was back in he hands of the Jaguars who were intent on taking the lead.

On third down Schmidt was tackled on a quarterback keeper right at the first down marker but before a measurement could be made, a costly penalty on Mountain Pointe gifted Desert Ridge more than enough yards to keep the drive alive.

Schmidt ran in from 17 yards out to score the go-ahead touchdown that put the Jaguars up 24-20 with 3:28 remaining.

Mountain Pointe struggled to move the ball and before long it was fourth and 11. Wallerstedt completed a 30-yard pass to senior wide receiver Sky Hinojosa at midfield.

With how the game had been going yet another lead change seemed inevitable.

After an incompletion, Wallerstedt threw an ill-fated pass to the left flat. Junior linebacker Gabe Segura intercepted the pass and weaved his way through would-be tacklers for a 50-yard pick-six.

“Right when the receiver broke, I looked back at the quarterback and made something happen,” Segura said, “It showed our defense can make things happen.”

Senior cornerback and team captain Donjae Logan sealed the win with an interception on the following drive.

“We’re not always the fastest but we are physical and did what we needed to do,” Logan said.

No team had managed to defeat Mountain Pointe at home since 2011, let alone doing so with four turnovers.

“It took a lot of luck and a lot of hard play,” Hathcock said, “You can’t do that against a number one team but if we can clean that up we’re going to be ok.”