For the majority of the 29 years of the 'Tukee Bowl, one of the fiercest football rivalries in the state, it has been a season-long build up to the final week of the campaign.

It led to some classic, region-on-the-line games played by two crisp teams with nine games or so to build on before squaring off in the Foothills of Ahwatukee.

That was not the case for the 2025 rendition of the game as Mountain Pointe won 55-35 Friday at Desert Vista in the second game of the season for both teams.

It gave a different feel to the game as there were turnovers, scoring runs and penalties galore, but if nothing else it was entertaining as the 5A Pride (2-0) won their fourth straight in the series and now leads 16-13 overall.

“That first quarter was electric,” Mountain Pointe coach Jon Roberts said. “I’m proud of my boys.”

Mountain Pointe scored five different ways – run, pass, fumble return, field goal and punt return – overall and built up a 24-0 lead early in the second quarter thanks to turnovers on Desert Vista’s first four possessions and five in the first half.

The Pride offense was set up quite well for success by the defense thanks to fumble recovery returns by Tyrique Washington, and Marleigh Fely who picked a lateral in the first quarter and nearly went the distance and then in the fourth scooped up another - this time on a sack - and found the end zone.

The offense owes something big this week to the defense. Bundtlet cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes or wings from Tukee's Sports Grille. There needs to be some thanks as not many offenses have it so good.  

Mountain Pointe’s second drive started at the Thunder 1-yard line, the third was at the DV 21 and the fourth drive began at the Thunder 8-yard line.

“Every single time we needed a play someone came up big for us,” Roberts said.

And yet the Thunder, a 6A program, pulled within a score – 34-28 with 10:01 left in the fourth quarter when Jaeden Williams took a short dump pass 36 yards for the score.

Mountain Pointe’s offense had not shown the ability to have an extended drive – mostly because it didn’t have to thanks to ideal field position in the first half – but yet with the game on the line the Pride drove 65 yards to push it back out to a two-score game as quarterback Jordan Munoz completed 14 straight passes at one point.  

Freshman athlete Sonny Norwood scored after keeping the ball on an RPO decision as he cut inside and then back out to the left boundary.

“That really sealed it,” Norwood said. “They came back a little bit, so we really needed that score.”

Desert Vista was the better teams at times – getting back within a score after being down four scores in the second quarter – but couldn’t sustain it. It’s a good sign for a program that had a different head coach for six straight years starting with Dan Hinds last season 2019 to Jake McSpadden's first season in 2024.

Having a chance to build off one year to the next should be huge in rebuilding the foundation now that McSpadden is in his second year.

“They competed every single play,” Roberts said. “That’s a well coached team over there and they play hard.”

The Thunder (1-1) might have had a different outcome if it wasn’t such turnover-athon to start the game.

“The seniors didn’t win one (in their careers) and that’s one of the things that bothers me the most,” McSpadden said. “It’s an even tougher loss because it was in the Tukee Bowl, but we shot ourselves in the foot far too many times.

“Kudos to them for taking advantage. We got back into the game, but you can’t win turning the ball over six times."