Colin Kirkpatrick is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication student assigned to cover Basha High School for AZPreps365.com.

Perry High School’s Senior Night buzzed with excitement for a matchup against their oldest rival, but by halftime, Basha trapped the Pumas in a cave they could not crawl out of.

In what seemed to be an interesting matchup after a 7-3 score at the end of the first quarter, it quickly developed into a Basha hurricane. 

Perry was without another score, while the Bears stormed to a 35-point halftime lead en route to a 52-point victory, winning the 6A Southern Region.

Junior quarterback Jake Rogers, making only his second start after stepping in for the injured Brodie Vehrs, crafted a 78-yard bomb to tight end Barry Adams, setting the stage for a fireworks-filled four-touchdown performance from Rogers. 

“Brodie, he’s always done his thing all year,” Rogers said. “It’s football.”

“Next play, you never know what can happen, and the whole team has really rallied behind me and stepped up,” Rogers said.

All facets of the offensive game got in on the action early, as junior Noah Roberts earned his first score of the night on a 1-yard plunge while kicker Mikey Barth smashed a 40-yard field goal to give the Bears a 24-3 lead. 

In a 92-second stretch, the Bears piled on three touchdowns to blow the doors off Perry.

The score came from a 2-yard reception from senior Kash Brock, a 35-yard catch and run from senior Joshua Gaines and a 32-yard strike to junior Jaden Baldwin. 

“I feel like we're finding our rhythm a little bit,” McDonald said. “It took us a while to mesh.” 

“Not just staff-wise, but offensively, I felt like the second half of the season, we found our groove.”

Basha remained suffocating on defense, anchored by senior linebacker Eli Cramer-Cronin stuffing Perry on a fourth-down try the Pumas had to have. 

The Bears’ defense swarmed to the ball all evening, racking up tackles for losses, breaking up passes and closing lanes before Perry could establish any rhythm. The night’s lone turnover came when junior cornerback Tre Kennard snagged an interception after the ball pinballed through several players’ hands—a play that seemed to summarize Perry’s frustration and Basha’s dominance.

The running back room continues to make key contributions, as both Gaines and Roberts would find the end zone a combined three times against the Pumas, while also contributing chunk runs to secure key third- and fourth-down conversions. 

“We have two outstanding running backs and just really trying to make these guys work and complement each other, and I think we’re seeing that,”  McDonald said. “(Gaines is) He's a division 1 guy; and somebody's gonna take a chance on him….they’re gonna be really lucky.”

In the wide receiver room, Baldwin earned over 100 receiving yards atop his sole score, while Brock continues to be a threat, mimicking his play style to that of Denver Bronco playmaker Courtland Sutton.

“He's my type of size and I just emulate him,” Brock said. “I like his game a lot.”

The only hiccup for the Bears came during a red-zone possession in the second quarter. With tight end Adams taking the snap in shotgun, a false start and a sack squashed the drive, forcing Basha to settle for a field goal.

“We tried to take our tight end, who's a great runner, and put him in really quick and do some QB run game,” McDonald said. “I think his cadence threw him off.” 

Basha remains undefeated in the 6A Southern Region, almost certainly locking up a first-round bye in the state playoffs. 

“These kids work their tails off,” McDonald said. “I think it's good to sometimes step back, reassess some things, recharge the batteries, get healthy, let their body heal a little bit.”

“So, that's the focus right now.”

Basha sits in second place in the 6A division behind rival Hamilton, following their 28-12 victory over Basha in week 8. 

“We’re looking forward to the playoffs,” Rogers said. “We still have a bad taste in our mouths from the game two weeks ago.”