As the clock hit double zeros ending the first half of play Friday night at Mountain Pointe High School, the Pride offensive attack jogged off the field knowing that to erase a 13-point deficit to regional foe Highland, something had to change.

Up to that point, the Mountain Pointe offense had been held to just 30 yards. Following a three-and-out on their first drive and an ensuing Hawks touchdown, the Pride offense then turned the ball over on three of their next six offensive plays, leading to six more points for the visitors.

The No. 3-ranked team in the state hardly looked the part heading into the locker room.

But as quarterback Nick Wallerstedt and the Mountain Pointe offense took the field to begin the second half, the switch was finally flipped. The Pride opened the second half with a 14-play, 80-yard drive, which culminated when running back Delano Salgado broke outside, beating the Hawks to the edge for a 27-yard touchdown run.

On the drive, the Pride ran the ball 12 times for 62 yards while eating up nearly seven minutes of game clock, completely changing the tide of the game.

“I told (the team) that we have to get refocused and just simply do our job,” said Pride head coach Norris Vaughan on his team’s second half adjustments. “If we do our job, then we know what we can do.”

After the drive, the Mountain Pointe defense, which held Highland to a total of 121 yards of offense in the contest and produced several key stops following the slew of Pride turnovers in the first half, stepped up once again, forcing Highland into a three-and-out the next time Hawks had the ball.

After a short Highland punt, Mountain Pointe engineered another bruising drive from the Hawks' 31-yard line. Running the ball eight straight times, the Pride found the end zone once again when Salgado rumbled in from the 1 for his second score.

The Hawks, however, were not finished and mounted a lengthy drive of their own. Aided by a Mountain Pointe personal foul on a fourth down punt, Highland drove the ball to the Pride 25-yard line but failed to score when Hawks kicker Austin McNamara pushed a 42-yard field goal attempt wide right.

With just over five and a half minutes to play, the Pride rushing attack once again showed its prowess, engineering a 12-play, 74-yard drive, led this time by running back Jakim McKinney. McKinney, who carried the ball four times for 32 yards on the drive, aided the Pride in effectively running out the clock and sealing the 14-13 Mountain Pointe victory.

“When we went in after halftime, we didn’t give up,” said McKinney after the game. “We all didn’t have our head down or anything, we all just encouraged ourselves to keep going. When we came out here, we were all on the same page. Even though we all struggled, as well as me running the ball, we all came out here and we did it.”

With the win, the Pride push their winning streak to five games and move to 6-1 on the year. Additionally, Mountain Pointe keeps pace with Desert Ridge for first place in the 6A Central Region. The Pride will play host to Desert Ridge next weekend in a matchup that could very well determine the eventual Central Region champion.

Although the Central Region is host to three of the top five teams in the state coming into this week, making for a difficult slate of games for the Pride moving forward, McKinney has confidence in his team’s ability.

“We can do it,” said McKinney, referencing his team’s outlook moving forward. “We can make it to the state championship and win it this year. We’re great kids, we do well on blocking and running the ball, and we play as brothers. I think we can do it.”