Week 2 football: Red Mountain-Mesquite matchup one to watch

August 31, 2011 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Week 2 of the prep footballl season does not contain as many tantalizing matchups as Week 1 involving team from the East Valley and southern Arizona, but enough that need attention.

Heading the list of Friday clashes is Red Mountain at Mesquite, a battle of Division I unbeatens after each secured a road win last week.

Mesquite's defense was the story in shutting down Highland, 20-3. Red Mountain was solid in most phases in turning back Westview, 24-14. Westview was fired up at home to prove itself Division I worthy. The key to beating Mesquite is limiiting or better yet denying long runs to Wildcats speedster Anthony Lopez. Lopez reeled off one 50-yard plus TD run in the opener.

Red Mountain introduced a nice pass-catch duo of quarterback Mason Thorman and receiver Aeron Carr, who hooked up twice for touchdowns. Red Mountain was the more adept team at running and throwing in the first week. Mesquite is working in some spread formations and its passing game is a work in progress. This will be the first meeting between the schools since 2004

Here are a few more interesting matchups featuring East Valley and southern Arizona schools for Week 2:

TEMPE PREP (1-0) at VALLEY CHRISTIAN (0-1): Tempe Prep pulled away in the second half to knock off Bourgade last week with the three-pronged rushing attack of Ahmari Underwood (122 yards), Forest Redlin (82 yards) and David Carmody (71 yards) providing the impetus. Underwood scored twice. Valley Christian stumbled in the second half as the Trojans were outscored 25-0 in the second half in a 37-21 loss to Canyon State. VC looks to improve its offensive production this week and play four quarters instead of two. Last year  Tempe Prep prevailied 25-0 in a breakout season for coach Thomas Brittain and the Knights in 2A. (NOTE: This game will be played Thursday  Sept. 1 at 7 p.m.

SABINO (0-1) at CATALINA FOOTHILLS (1-0): Division III Sabino gave Division II power Cienega all it wanted in the opener before falling, 17-16. Sabino plays up a division again against CFH, which used a 300-yard plus rushing game to rally and beat Rincon, 35-23. CFH is led by running back Ty Cruz, who had a pair of TDs and a pick in Week 1. Sabino senior quarterback Dallas Brown rushed for 238 yards in the opener.

DESERT RIDGE (1-0) at MESA MTN. VIEW (0-1): Desert Ridge came out with the same fire as it ended 2010 in dismantling Gilbert, 47-7. Mountain View, expected by most to prevail in its opener with Desert Mountain, was shelled, 43-7. Desert Ridge has too many weapons on offense and a solid defense. Quarterback Parker Rasmussen, who endured an up-and--down junior year that pretty much ended with injury, accounted for 286 yards of offense - 238 passing and four touchdowns. Mountain View looks to make a bettter showing, but the opposition may make that a tough task.

DOBSON (1-0) at DESERT MOUNTAIN (1-0): For the first time in his three seasons, Dobson won an opener for coach Alex Jacobson. The Mustangs did so handily against Westwood. Running back T.J. Thomas rushed for a school-record tying 378 yards in the victory over the Warriors. Desert Mountain stunned most pundits, but not themselves in routing Mountain View. Coach Tony Tabor and the Wolves are eyeing an abrupt turnaround after going 0-10 last season. They are anxious to get back to their success of 2009 when a playoff appearances resulted. The Wolves were led in their win over Mountain View by quarterback Kyle Allen and wide out Mark Andrews. Andrews had 134 yards in receptions and two TDs; Allen threw for three scores.

HIGLEY (1-0) at CAMPO VERDE (1-0): Senior quarterback Eric Kump had an easy time passing for 209 yards in Higley's win over Carl Hayden. Campo Verde was stout in its first championship season of competition in besting Apache Junction. Campo Verde showcased a good running game with quarterback Luke Pineda and running back Jake Elle combining for 234 yards on the ground.  This should be the start of good rivalry between the Division III neighbors, separated by just a few miles.

CHAPARRAL (1-1) AT MARCOS DE NIZA (1-0): After being shut down except for one long completion late in the opener against Bishop Gorman, senior Davonte Neal amassed nearly 200 yards of offense and two TDs in helping the Firebirds rally to a narrow victory over Salpointe. Neal rushed for 80 yards and caught 116 yards worth of passes. He scored twice. Marcos welcomed Notre Dame to the new reality of Division II footballl with a 50-point thumping. Marcos sports plenty of speed with Mauiece Lee and Paul Elvira. The Padres got a solid first game from veteran QB Tommy Thornton. The Padres last met Chaparral in the 2009 5A-II title game at Sun Devil Stadium in what was the first of back-to-back titles for Chaparral.

One other game of note has Hamiilton (with congratulations in order), the owner of the state big-school record of 41 wins in a row, playing host to the Santa Fe High Chiefs of Santa Fe Springs, Calif.  The Huskies opened their season last week outlasting Mountain Pointe, 17-7. This will be Santa Fe's first game of 2011. The Chiefs posted a 7-6 record last year. They have won five of the last eight region titles they've competed in in California.