Desert Ridge has been on a major roll. The Jaguars have finished with at least 10 wins a year since 2010 and 11 wins since 2012 but it doesn’t seem to matter that the Jaguars finished runner-up in the state’s highest division last year, the team feels they have to prove themselves all over again.

“This team is different than last year,” senior defensive end Jalen Harris said. “We have to come out and play like we didn’t make it to the championship. We have to prove we can do it again.”

The Jaguars took their first step in that direction with a 38-14 win at Tucson High on Friday night, one week after dropping a 14-10 decision to Norco, California in the Brothers in Arms Classic.

The Jaguars led 10-6 in the fourth quarter of the Norco game but a late touchdown and 2-point conversion by Norco turned Desert Ridge back. The Jaguars were unable to run against Norco in that loss (34 rushes for 54 yards) but that was not the case against the Badgers on Friday.

Junior RB Tyrese Allen finished with a game-high 158 yards on 28 carries. In all, the Jaguars finished with 236 yards on the ground compared to only 136 for the Badgers. Allen started things off less than two minutes into the game after Tucson fumbled the snap on their first punt attempt.

Desert Ridge took over at the 13-yard line after the turnover and Allen ran for nine yards and then four on the next play to put Desert Ridge up 7-0 with 10:01 left in the first quarter.  Spotting a team like Desert Ridge seven points is a recipe for disaster but the Badgers recovered to tie the game up on their next drive.

Senior QB Jorge Flores marched the team down the field and D.J. Hinton ripped off a 40-yard dash to tie things up 7-7 with 7:34 left in the opening quarter. Hinton was a standout player at Salpointe before transferring over to Tucson this past summer. Hinton finished with 47 yards on eight carries.

It looked like momentum had shifted over to Tucson after the Badgers forced Desert Ridge to punt on their next two possessions but an interception and another failed drive left the Jaguars off the hook.

Senior QB C.J. Fowler only completed two passes against Tucson but one of those went for a touchdown. Fowler hit Donjae Logan in double coverage and Logan scored 21 yards later to put Desert Ridge up 14-7 with 11:54 left in the first half.

The Badgers were unable to get to Desert Ridge when they had the opportunity and the game slowly slipped away from there once the Jaguars realized their ground game was almost unstoppable.

“We played great defense and it was a team effort,” Harris added. “We got better and better as the game went on.”

Harris is the son of former Tucson standout Sean Harris. Harris went on to be an All-American at the University of Arizona before moving on to play for the Chicago Bears. Jalen, like his father, committed to play for the Wildcats. Tucson’s head coach Justin Argraves recognized Sean Harris before the game and gave him a team helmet at midfield.

“We knew it was just another game on our schedule,” Jalen Harris said. “But it was cool he played here.”

Fowler gave way to John Meyer in the fourth quarter and Meyer connected on a long TD pass but the passing game for the Jaguars was their one weak point. Fowler and Meyer combined for five completions on 13 attempts for 106 yards.

Flores also stepped aside the fourth and Adrian Valenzuela connected on a TD pass of his own in the final seconds.

Things don’t get an easier for Desert Ridge (1-1) next week with Hamilton (3-0) coming to town.  Tucson (2-1) will also have a difficult game with a trip to Salpointe (2-0) coming up. Hinton feels he will be ready.

“We are still hungry,” Hinton said. “This was only one game and we can fix everything that went wrong. This is the toughest team I’ve played for. We are working hard.”

Hinton’s father, David Hinton, also played for Arizona.