GameNight: Pride open '08 slate with rousing victory

Like an early Christmas.

That's how Mountain Pointe junior tailback De'Andre Currie described his first-ever varsity carry -- a 36-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter, on the Pride's first offensive play from scrimmage, no less.

• Click here for a photo gallery of Mountain Pointe's win

That run, and Currie's play thereafter, set the tone as the 5-foot-6, 150-pound back ran for 231 yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries to lead the visitors to a 24-19 victory over Laveen Cesar Chavez.

"I've been doing this my whole life. Running the ball is like breathing to me," Currie said.

Added Mountain Pointe coach Phil Abbadessa: "He's a tough running back. He dominated the jayvee level. He's dynamite. He's very, very strong in the weight-room."

For a matchup featuring teams both coming off losing campaigns a year ago, the season opener for both squads sure had plenty of intrigue.

Longtime valley coaching staple Jim Rattay, who led Desert Vista -- Mountain Pointe's chief rival -- to its only football title back in 1998, was on the sidelines in his first game as head coach of the host Champions.

Add the fact that Chavez saw key contributions from three players Friday night who were members of the Pride's varsity squad a year ago and this was anything but a matchup of once also-rans.

All 19 of Chavez' points came at the hands of players who could have been wearing the maroon and gold of the Pride this season.

Champion quarterback Brandon Cluff, Mountain Pointe's starter under center a year ago, scored early on a five-yard run and then threw a five-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth to freshman wideout Davonte Neal. Neal, a youth track star who grew up in the shadow of Mountain Pointe's Ahwatukee Foothills campus, decided in the offseason he would play instead for Rattay and Cesar Chavez.

Chavez' third touchdown came on an 11-yard run by former Pride back Steven Beck, while both of the Champions' converted extra points were credited to former Mountain Pointe player Lyle Blummears.

For Mountain Pointe, quarterback Austin Lahr's first start went much smoother than his statline - 6-for-12 for 47 yards through the air - would show for it.

"Last year I was carrying the clipboard at practice, but I knew what it was like," said Lahr, who picked up 44 yards rushing on nine carries. "I wouldn't have had it any other way."

Mountain Pointe's Ben DeMar also proved his mettle for the Pride, catching three balls for 34 yards from his tight end post, serving as the team's punter, and forcing an early fumble on defense that led to a Currie score.

After falling behind 14-0 early in the first half, Rattay's team appeared to try and reach deep into their bag of tricks when two of the team's key players exited the locker room after halftime wearing different numbers on their backs.

After starting the game wearing No. 6, the wunderkind Neal came out of the break dressed in a No. 3 jersey which was the same shade of purple as his teammates but featured different lettering and a varied white piping from those the rest of the Champions' wore.

Blummears also switched numbers and jersey styles, changing from No. 82 to No. 2.

"Yeah we had some problems with the jerseys," Rattay said postgame, declining to comment further.

Mountain Pointe placekicker Jon Mora rounded out the scoring by converting his only field goal attempt, a 19-yard fourth-quarter try.