From the October 2026 playoff preview issue of The Rush Magazine, presented by Prolook. Photos by @MomentumSportsFilms.
There are some who live north of Cowabunga Bay who say: just pencil in Corner or Skyridge or LP and let's move on to wintertime when things are a little more democratic. And then there are those who, on a Thursday night in August at Mountain Ridge High School, late in the second quarter, said: cancel the nacho run.
Mountain Ridge quarterback Jaxon Hunt had just thrown an 82-yard touchdown pass to Xander Thayer.
And Coach Nick Robins said they were down 20 to 6 to Skyridge when Hunt hit a slot fade that flipped the whole thing on its head and sparked the season.
And Dave Fox on the big camera said folks, don't touch that dial and showed a commercial for neckties and when it came back Mountain Ridge handed the ball to their backup running back who stole the hearts of America and ran like Skattebo.
And then there was Tytan and Jordan and Bennett and Marshall and Big Shane and Jayden and on and on and on.
And at the end of the night Sentinel fans drove in hordes to Salt City Tacos and with carne in their teeth, shouted to the sky: "We told you!"
And people said maybe Skyridge is down.
But Mountain Ridge beat everybody else too. And they scored more points than the 2009 Indianapolis Colts.
And Coach Robins said that his quarterback can make every throw but the best play he made all year was a handoff because a defender from Chaparral had crept up toward the line on a run-pass option and Robins thought Hunt would keep the play on and get his head knocked off but somehow Hunt knew the linebacker wasn't really going to blitz and handed the ball off and the linebacker bailed back into coverage and Mountain Ridge scored.
"I trust any one of our guys against whoever's lined up," Hunt said. "So you just buy yourself time and throw it up to one of them. Pick your matchup."
And their receivers are smart too because they decide what routes they're going to run after the snap a lot of the time and Robins trusts them to do that because they've been running routes since January.
And the team is the most player-led Robins has ever been a part of and he said that sometimes he feels like he's not even coaching.
And that Coach Peck and the defense are so good that that's probably why the offense is good because they practice against them.
And Hunt has thrown for more yards than a Tesla Y can go without a charge. And he learned how to throw from his dad who coached him in little league and he likes Justin Herbert because not every play can be one-two-three hitch throw and you have to play in a mess. And some say Harbaugh would trade for Hunt for this Sunday against the Rams.
And Hunt said he plays his best with a chip on his shoulder and even though they've won all their games it's not hard to find haters.
And there are haters because no team that's not currently in Region 3 has won a state championship since before the Rizzler was born.
And Coach Robins said there's a reason why everybody's chasing Region 3 and it's an honor that people think that Mountain Ridge can compete with them.
And then other people say no Corner is going to cream everybody and others say no Skyridge.
But that's why they say you play the games and why if you have #11 you never leave your seat for nachos.
Chalk route to the title
No. 15 Cedar Valley, Oct. 30
No. 7 Lone Peak, Nov. 6
No. 3 Corner Canyon, Nov. 12
No. 1 Skyridge, Nov. 20
Mountain Ridge (10-0), which beat Skyridge 41-26 in that August opener, hosts Cedar Valley in the 6A first round tonight at 6 p.m. See all of this week's first-round matchups in our predicted margins breakdown, and check the Sentinels' season on MaxPreps.