Red Mountain edges Highland 24-17 to claim first 6A East Valley title since 2022

On Thursday night the Red Mountain Mountain Lions closed out their region play undefeated after taking down the Highland Hawks 24-17. 

On the first drive of the game, Highland showed some aggression that they would be bringing against Red Mountain.

They went for it in their own territory on fourth down; however, Red Mountain’s defensive line held strong and forced the turnover on downs. 

The Mountain Lions' offense wasted no time getting the ball in the end zone. 

One key play of the drive was when Red Mountain senior quarterback Dominic Carmigiano connected with sophomore tight end Jayden Windom for a 19-yard gain to set the offense up with first & goal at the one-yard line. 

After the pass play, Red Mountain went on the ground to get the touchdown as their senior running back Kai Jackson powered his way forward for a 1-yard touchdown. 

Everything wasn’t smooth sailing for Red Mountain, though, as they committed multiple pre-snap penalties and even had a turnover late in the first quarter.

Highland was able to cause a turnover as their senior defensive back Max Mercado blitzed off the edge and forced a Carmigiano fumble. 

Highlands' offense couldn’t move the ball much after their defense forced the turnover; however, they were in field-goal range. 

Getting Highland’s first points of the game was senior athlete Grady Crandall, who hit a 42-yard field goal. 

Needing to gain some momentum back, Red Mountain opted to go for it on fourth down in Highland’s territory. 

The risk paid off for them, though, as Carmigiano hit Windom for a 40-yard touchdown strike. 

Their momentum was short-lived, though, as Highland was able to score off the kick return following Red Mountain’s touchdown. 

Making the play was Highland senior athlete Anthony Martin, who tip-toed his way down the sideline to score off the kick return. 

Before halftime, Red Mountain was able to put a few more points on the board as their junior kicker Chase Pitzer hit a 35-yard field goal. 

Even though Red Mountain led 17-10 over Highland at halftime, their head coach Kyle Enders knew his team didn’t play the best and had to have a better second half. 

“The first half was sloppy,” Enders said. “It was more of just like calm down, don’t try to do to much and clean things up. I felt like we did that in the second half we settled down a little bit.” 

The third quarter was slow for both sides until Highland put together their best drive of the game.

They started at their own 20-yard line and moved the ball down the field methodically. 

The drive was capped off by Highland’s junior quarterback Paiden Cash Dalhaug finding junior wide receiver Gage Scheurn for a 41-yard touchdown. 

Now being tied at 17 with Highland, Red Mountain knew they had to finish the game strong. 

Leading the charge in the fourth quarter was Carmigiano.

He threw an incredible pass through a tight window to junior wide receiver Jay Williams for a 18-yard touchdown. 

Knowing his team needed to be led, Carmigano got his offense together to put together the drive in the fourth quarter to take the lead back. 

“I just had to lead them,” he said in regards to his offenivse unit. “Get them up, get them right so that we could go down and make that drive at the end of the game.” 

Through the rest of the fourth quarter Red Mountain’s defense kept coming through to make stops and keep Highland from tying the game up.

On the offensive side it was Jackson who came through as he kept finding a way to move the chains with his legs late in the fourth quarter.

Jackson ultimately helped ice the game as Red Mountain was able to chew the remaining clock and seal the win over Highland. 

“We started out slow,” Jackson said. “At the end of the day it comes to the line, the whole team. Without them I couldn’t have done any of that, it’s not just me. We put it away I’m really happy right now.” 

Red Mountain went 3-0 in region play and sit atop of the 6A East Valley region in 2025. This was the first time they won the region since 2022, although they hope to accomplish more this season.

“It’s a big deal, that’s always your first accomplishment,” Enders said about winning the region title. “Tough region, really good football teams. Hopefully we can finish the season off with another win then make a good run in the post season.” 

Next up: 8-1 Red Mountian will look for their fifth straight win versus 5-3 Queen Creek. 4-5 Highland will hope to finish their regular season .500 with a win versus 5-4 Mountian View.