South Mountain left guard Anthony Sanchez wears a quarter above his facemask for luck. It wasn't necessary Friday.

The return of quarterback Russvel Perez sparked the Jaguars to a 51-12 victory over Sierra Linda.

For the second consecutive week, South Mountain (4-3) went on the road and played homecoming spoiler. .

The first team was pulled after a single second half drive and left the game with a 51-6 lead. Perez finished with 250 yards and four touchdowns.

“It felt amazing,” the senior said. “It was great to be playing with my family again.”

In the team’s game against North Canyon Aug. 24, Perez came to the sideline in the second half with pain in his hand.

“This one play at the end of the game with a minute left he was like, ‘Coach my hand is really killing me,’ and I was like, ‘You want someone to finish this game for you?’ and he was like, ‘Nah’. So we finished the game and he went to the doctor the next day and he called me and put me on FaceTime,” coach Mark Carter said.

Carter was shown a cast on his quarterback’s forearm, an injury that would hold him out for the next four games.

Perez looked full strength Friday and led the offense to a touchdown on seven of the eight drives he played.

Senior wide receiver Marvin Cotton helped Perez get back in the fold comfortably posting over 170 total yards and two touchdowns.

“I’ve been with him since my freshman year so we have that chemistry,” Cotton said. “To have Russ back, it's exciting.” But it was not just the offense that shined in the blowout victory.

“It was a whole team thing. I think we had a complete game, offense, defense and special teams,” explained the versatile wide receiver, who also starts at safety and returns kicks.

The boost provided by Perez’s return was obvious.

“They just feel a lot more comfortable, you could see their confidence level went up,” said Carter. “A lot of those guys have been playing with him since sophomore year, so their confidence level rises up and that’s what we need going into the big game this next week.”

That contest will see the Jaguars, who have won three in a row, take on a Fairfax team their seniors have never beaten.