Mesquite was methodical and very much focused Friday night, especially in the opening quarter of its 4A Desert Sky East Region game vs. Marcos de Niza.

The Wildcats marched down the field on their first three possessions for three touchdowns igniting a 44-21 triumph over the Padres at Mesquite High School.

The win produced the defending state champs a region title, just the third in its two-decade-and-change existence. The 20-0 lead after one quarter held up nicely as the margin of victory at the end.

"I felt good about how we played early and overall," Mesquite coach Scott Hare said. "We were in a good rhythm, and its not always easy to stay in rhythm."

Mesquite (5-1, 3-0 region) was all that in the first 12 minutes putting together possessions that covered 74, 80 and 86 yards. Senior quarterback Ty Thompson passed for 190 yards in the quarter. He scored the first TD on a 2-yard run, connected for a 19-yard TD to wide out Eric Lira for the second and handed off to running back Cameron Clinton for a 3-yard tally on the third. 

Marcos de Niza (3-3, 1-2) got untracked on the opening play of the second quarter with quarterback Antonio Hernandez finding a wide-open Nico Updyke for a 48-yard TD. It cut the lead to 20-7.

After Marcos de Niza forced Mesquite to punt for the first time, the Padres marched to the red zone and settled for field-goal attempt that could have cut the lead to 20-10 deficit and game on.

Instead, Mesquite came up with a special teams play stopping Marcos de Niza's momentum. The Wildcats blocked a 35-yard attempt by kicker Damian Gonzalez and did more with it than that. Mesquite defensive back caught the blocked kick in the air and took it 75 yards to the house for a 27-7 lead. 

Mesquite's defense stepped up next with defensive back Jaedyn Winston picking off Hernandez with the Padres in Wildcats' territory. Thompson marched Mesquite 64 yards in seven plays to boost the lead to 34-7 with 4:15 before halftime. Thompson connected with Riales Hopper for the TD.

Thompson's passing stats unofficially for the night - 25 of 44 passing for 431 yards and three TDs. The hot target was Lira, who caught 12 passes for 201 yards and two of the TDs. Throw in two more Mesquite interceptions in the second half (one by Hopper and one by Lavontae Trotter) and the Wildcats' played a pretty complete game.

"I thought our defense played phenomenal," Hare said. "They are a big physical team. They moved the ball on us at times, but we made some plays."

Marcos de Niza, to the credit of coach Anthony Figueroa and staff, didn't wilt after intermission facing a 27-point deficit. The  Padres outscored Mesquite, 14-10, in the second half. They cut the lead to 37-21 with 6:29 to play after the second of two short TD runs by running back Tracy Williams.

Any ideas Marcos de Niza had of slicing the lead further were dashed by a quick, two-play drive - pass completions of 41 and 9 yards from Thompson to Lira - for the last points of the night with 5:43 left.