Joe McHugh is a student journalist at the Walter Cronkite school at Arizona State University assigned to cover Perry High School football.

On Friday, the Perry Pumas played host to the Boulder Creek Jaguars at Perry High School, where the Pumas were victorious 59-43.

The Pumas would start fast, scoring three times in the first six minutes of the contest. The first touchdown came after a 40-yard kick return by  Jorden Young, where the offense would then piece together an eight-play drive, capped off with a four-yard receiving touchdown by Young.

Quarterback, Chubba Purdy, and Young would have a solid night together, amassing two touchdowns together by the third quarter. Purdy had plenty of good passes to Young which would end in more than 10 catches for about 120 yards for Young.

“Having Jorden out there means a lot," Purdy said. "He’s a slot receiver, and he’s the shiftiest kid I know. No one really can guard him. I just know when it’s one on one with him, I know he’s gonna get open and I just hit him when he’s open and he makes the plays,."

The second score came in just three plays, where Purdy would show off his arm and his legs, throwing a 35-yard pass to Bryce Holdridge to set up a 45-yard scramble for a touchdown.

The last score of the first quarter then followed a fumbled punt snap by Boulder Creek, setting the Pumas up at the five-yard line, and leading to another Bryce Holdridge touchdown.

These scores were all set up by the stellar first quarter play by the Puma’s defense, only allowing the Jaguars to gain two first downs in the entire 12 minutes.

The second quarter seemed like more of the same, as the Pumas came out strong with another seven-play drive, that included the Pumas picking up a fourth and four on their own 38-yard line.

“We just have confidence in our offense, so it’s not that big of a deal for us… It’s another opportunity, so why give it back to the defense?” Perry coach Preston Jones said about that play. The faith in his offense in turn made things flow easier for the Pumas.

But the Jaguars got a jolt of energy after Jacob Cisneros had a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Immediately following the touchdown, the Jaguars would recover an onside kick, leading to another touchdown from Cisneros, which put the Jaguars right back in the game 28-14.

The Jaguars attempted yet another onside kick, which the Pumas would recover, and with the short field, the Pumas would only put a field goal on the board.

Halfway through the third quarter, Purdy and Young connected on an 11-yard touchdown, advancing the score to 38-21. The Pumas for the rest of the game would outrun the Jaguars, with their last score being a 54-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Kobe Rome, essentially icing the game for the Pumas.

“Our goal this week was just to get better, not worry about the scoreboard [because the] scoreboard wasn’t going to decide if we were successful or not tonight,” Jones said. “Offensively, I don’t know that we played as well as we should have… It could be a lot better than what we did tonight.”

Among those areas of improvement, the Pumas could not stop the run or Cisneros. A fan commented a one point “This kid has to have 400 all-purpose yards!” He wasn’t wrong: Cisneros was breaking and evading tackles left and right, racking up around 400 all-purpose yards. On multiple plays, Cisneros ripped off huge gains and big touchdowns. Although it didn’t cost Perry the game, that efficiency by an opponent is something to be concerned about.

Sophomore linebacker Sy Hatch saw how it happened. “We needed to keep him inside and we let him outside and that’s when he broke through for a long run," he said. Hatch was all over the ball tonight, and his presence helped the Pumas to a victory.

Hatch and the defense will get their next chance to contain an opponent soon. The Pumas' next game is against the Chandler Wolves at Chandler.