Chris Marcano is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Raymond S. Kellis for AZPreps365.com

Senior night is always expected to bring emotions to players and families, and Raymond S. Kellis football senior night was no different.

Following a dominant 28-12 home victory against the Paradise Valley Trojans on Friday night, Kellis seniors crossed arms with each other and walked from one end zone to another, trotting behind the marching band playing their instruments for the seniors. Head coach Benjamin Kullos reflected on his graduating class and praised their leadership and accomplishments so far.

“The leadership of these 27 kids, a lot of them are great on the field, but I think it's more about what they do off the field that is that void that needs to be filled by this next group. They've been here since the beginning with me, and they've only known Coach Kullos, and that's really special to me,” Kullos said.

The game started off shaky with two punts from Paradise Valley in their first two possessions and senior quarterback Ronald Coty III losing a fumble on Kellis’s first possession.

But after getting the early jitters out, senior running back Tristan Bacon punched in a touchdown from 10 yards out to give Kellis an early lead. Bacon credited his offensive line for his score and the success he and his team have had on the ground all year long.

“The O-line. They've really grown since the spring, and I'm happy to be a senior and see the young ones grow up,” Bacon said.

Kellis’s early work didn’t end there as only three plays into Paradise Valley’s third possession, senior cornerback Jason Perez made an interception and returned it 54 yards for an electric pick-six that saw Perez bumping shoulders mid-air with teammates after and Kellis leading 14-0 with 3:07 left in the first. Perez doesn’t believe he did much work on his score but says his teammates were the reason he ended up in the end zone.

“I was just there because my teammates were doing some amazing blocking. I saw the end zone and wanted to get there, but my teammates made it happen, not me,” Perez said.

Paradise Valley wouldn’t go away without swinging as their ensuing two drives ended in 16- and 26-yard rushing touchdowns by running back TJ Allen to cut the lead to 14-12 which is what it would stand at halftime, as the Trojans failed both of their two-point conversions following said scores.

Kellis had a chance to score before halftime, as a defensive pass interference set them up just outside the red zone with 1.4 seconds to go. Senior receiver David Bedolla caught a last-second pass near the goal line but he was marked down at the 1 as the clock hit zero.

Kellis showed in the second half that all they needed was a little more time, as early in the third quarter Ronald Coty took a quarterback keeper 18 yards for a touchdown. They followed that up with another scoring drive, which saw Coty passing to senior captain Avery Rodriguez who spun into the end zone, making the score 28-12 with 7:02 remaining in the third quarter.

Kellis wouldn’t look back from there, as the defense held Paradise Valley to zero second-half points as they cruised to victory.

This was Kellis’s last home game of the season and they finished it off in typical fashion as Kellis improved to 7-1 following this five-game win streak. Although this won't be the last game played in Glendale this season as Kellis holds high playoff aspirations, Kellis made sure to give its seniors one last memory.

“The motivation. It makes us compete harder than almost anybody. The love for them, I'll miss that for sure. I got brothers here, these are my dogs,” Perez said about his senior class.