#11 Red Mountain Edges #5 Mountain View in Battle of Brown Road

The Battle of Brown Road between Mountain View and Red Mountain on Friday night was one to remember.

The game is one of the most anticipated rivalry games each season.

Each season, both stands are packed, the crowd is loud, the players and coaches are chirping, there are big plays, the pads are popping, and it usually brings one great football game. 

2025 was just that.

The Red Mountain Mountain Lions took home the Battle of Brown Road trophy after a 23-22 win over the Mountain View Toros. 

In the first quarter, it looked as if Red Mountain was going to run away with the game.

The opening kickoff was returned by Red Mountain’s senior defensive back Tyreke Cornett, who returned the ball all the way to Mountain View's 22-yard line. 

The Toros were able to hold Red Mountain to a field goal, however. Red Mountain’s senior kicker Chase Pitzer nailed a 44-yard field goal to give the Mountain Lions the first points of the game. 

Only a couple of minutes went by until Red Mountain got the ball back after their defense forced a three-and-out. 

Then their senior running back, Kai Jackson, was able to hit the outside of the field and use his speed to take it 60 yards for a touchdown. 

Things started to get ugly as the Mountain Lions got the ball back again, this time with great field position.

Their next drive only took one play as Red Mountains senior quarterback Dominic Carmigiano threw the ball right into the bread basket of junior wide receiver Airreon Windom for a 38-yard touchdown.

Red Mountain then led 17-0 with 4 minutes left in the first quarter. 

That’s exactly when Mountain View decided to strike back. 

Mountain Views senior quarterback Brady Goodman made it his mission to get points on the board.

Goodman used his legs multiple times to move the chains and ultimately kept it himself near the goal line to score a 4-yard touchdown and give the Toros their first points. 

After an exchange of turnovers by both teams, Mountain View ended up getting the ball back. 

They got great field position at Red Mountain’s 38-yard line, and it only took them two plays to cut the lead. 

The first play was Goodman connecting with sophomore wide receiver Te’o Weeks for a 29-yard catch. The play after Goodman found senior wide receiver Zachary Galaviz for a 9-yard touchdown. 

Having all the momentum in the second quarter, Mountain View once again got the ball and a chance to take its first lead of the game.

They did just that as Goodman found senior wide receiver Talan Arnett for a 6-yard touchdown. 

Just like that, the Toros scored 22 unanswered points. 

Red Mountain’s head coach, Kyle Enders, relied on his senior players to take charge and rally the team back into the game. 

“I went to my seniors before we walked into halftime. We were really flat; they had all the momentum. I said you guys talk to them, it’s your team,” Enders said. “I trust those guys and our players do, our coaching staff, they closed the door and took the lead on it.” 

Not much of anything happened for each team for the majority of the third quarter. 

However, late in the third quarter, Red Mountain started to put together a drive. 

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, they found themselves near the goal line. 

The Mountain Lions found life as Jackson was able to get his second touchdown of the night, this time from two yards out. 

The defense for Red Mountain had to make a play next.

Attempting to take back the lead, Mountain View was near the end zone and had a chance to take the lead. 

One of the players Enders relied on to rally the team came up big for Red Mountain, though, and changed the outcome of the game. 

Making one of the biggest plays of the season was Red Mountain's senior defensive back Jackson White, snagging an interception. 

Right place, right time is exactly how White described the game-winning play.

“We picked ourselves back up in the locker room during halftime,” White said. “I got put in the right place at the right time.” 

The interception proved to help seal the win for Red Mountain as the Mountain Lions' offense chewed up enough clock to prevent Mountain View from doing much of anything on offense for the rest of the night. 

Enders said he could talk about White for hours about how good of player and leader he is. 

“I challenged him to be the leader back there, I said Hey, you gotta get ahold of these guys back there,” Enders said. “Stuff like that I call the football gods, and they gave him one tonight down there; he deserved that.” 

After losing to Mountain View last year, Red Mountain was able to avenge its loss and move to 6-1 on the season. 

Last season, Red Mountain started 7-0 and lost its last four games. In 2025, it’s important to them that they keep building off their current momentum. 

“We’ve been in situations like this where we’ve had momentum and it’s sputtered,” Enders said. “We can’t take any weeks off or practices, and they’re not going to.“

Next up: 6-1 Red Mountain will take on 4-4 Gilbert. 4-3 Mountain View will face ALA Queen Creek.