#8 Red Mountain Holds Off #7 Casteel in 35-34 Shootout

Thursday night, the Red Mountain Mountain Lions defeated the Casteel Colts 35-34 in a game that came down to the last minute.

The game was an emotional roller coaster the entire time.

Red Mountain head coach Kyle Enders said he expected some rust and that the game was just crazy.

“Being a first game, we were expecting sloppiness, just craziness,” Enders said. “We can’t simulate that in a practice. I’m just proud of our guys.”

While both teams had to shake off first-game jitters, it was a madhouse from start to finish at Casteel High School.

Only five plays into the game, both teams found the end zone.

The Colts got the ball first and made an early statement.

2027 quarterback Tee Smith rolled out to his left and launched a ball deep down the field to 2027 wide receiver Troy Jauregui for a 43-yard touchdown.

While the early start was great for Casteel, Red Mountain only needed two plays to tie it up.

The Mountain Lions got into their bag of tricks as 2028 wide receiver Kaeden Weaver got the ball on a lateral, and he then launched it to 2027 wide receiver Airreon Windom for a 75-yard score.

Only a minute and a half into the game, the score was tied at seven.

After the early start, it took deep into the first quarter for another team to put points on the board.

The Mountain Lions were able to get out to their first lead of the game.

2027 quarterback Caleb Joe threw his first touchdown of the season when he connected with Windom on a 51-yard deep bomb late in the quarter.

Just like the first 12 minutes of the contest, the second quarter once again saw both teams gain huge touchdowns.

In the first half, Casteel dealt with some penalty issues that delayed their next score from coming until late in the half.

After cleaning up the penalties, Smith fired in his second touchdown pass of the game, this time to 2027 wide receiver Joel Cal, who got a 53-yard catch-and-run score.

With the game tied up late in the first half, Red Mountain leaned on its ground attack to take the lead back.

The Mountain Lions relied on 2027 running back Julius Miolla to get them near the goal line.

Then, with only nine seconds left in the quarter, Red Mountain punched it in from one yard out as they gave the ball to Miolla one more time.

At halftime, Red Mountain led 21-14 over Casteel.

The second half saw the madness continue.

Early in the third quarter, Casteel tried to compile another scoring drive to once again even the score.

The attempt wouldn’t last for long, however, as the Mountain Lions defense came up with a turnover.

2027 defensive back Gard Liles was able to read the offense perfectly, and it allowed him to snag an interception and give his offense the ball right back.

The Mountain Lions took full advantage of the turnover and marched down the field.

Once they got near the goal line, Red Mountain had Joe call his own number to score a 1-yard touchdown.

Red Mountain had a 14-point lead, the largest of the night, but that did not last long.

Needing to gain some momentum back, Casteel went back to a duo that worked before.

Connecting for the second time for a touchdown in the game was Smith finding Cal.

This time it was a 51-yard deep shot that put the Colts back into the game.

The offense did its part; it was now the defense's turn to do the same.

The defensive unit for Casteel did just that.

In what was one of the biggest plays of the game, Casteel’s defense forced a fumble deep into Red Mountain territory.

Casteel was able to fall on the ball and set up shop on the Mountain Lions' 10-yard line.

Needing only two plays, Casteel had Smith scamper it twice, one of which was a 2-yard touchdown.

However, as it had happened already many times before, the momentum kept swinging back and forth.

On the next drive, Red Mountain just needed one play to get out in front again.

Joe rolled to his right and connected with Weaver, who was left all alone deep down the field.

Weaver proceeded to do the rest and sprint into the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown.

Transferring in from North Creek (WA), Weaver said he wanted to make a name for himself in his first game playing in Arizona.

“Super exciting,” Weaver said. “Just wanted to put my name on the map.”

With both teams' offenses rolling at this point, each defensive stop mattered a lot.

Deep into the third quarter, the Mountain Lions defense created another turnover.

2028 defensive back Mikko Lopez was the player this time for the Mountain Lions to snag the pick and end the Casteel drive.

The next 10 minutes of game time saw both teams have sloppy possessions as each team turned the ball over or just simply couldn’t put together an offensive drive.

Fast forward to late in the fourth, however, the Colts once again inched closer.

Casteel methodically moved the ball down the field and entered the goal line area.

Calling his own number for the second time in the game, Smith scored a 1-yard QB sneak to put the Colts within one point.

The chaos kept ensuing, though, as Red Mountain was able to block the PAT and still hold onto the lead.

Red Mountain had a 35-34 lead with less than five minutes to go in the game and just needed a few first downs to close it out.

With two minutes left in the game, Enders called the gutsiest play of the game.

It was 4th & 1 deep into Red Mountain’s territory, and instead of punting the ball away, they went for it.

The attempt proved to be successful as Joe ran a QB sneak for the Mountain Lions and moved the chains.

Joe said this game started five months ago for the Mountain Lions.

“This game started five months ago, not tonight,” Joe said. “If we weren’t prepared, what were we doing all summer?”

Red Mountain proceeded to get two more first downs and ice the game.

Opening up the season with a win over the reigning 6A champions is a big confidence booster for Red Mountain.

The goal now is to clean up some of the mistakes and carry it into week two when they face Westwood.

“Just improve; these guys have been through a lot,” Enders said. “You have to find ways to improve; to be able to make as many mistakes as we did and come out with a W is huge. That’s what you need to do: find ways to get better each week.”

Next up: 1-0 Red Mountain looks to continue their win streak when they face Westwood. 0-1 Casteel looks to get their first win of the season when they take on Lake Oswego (OR), the defending Oregon 6A champions.