Spencer Barnes is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover the Red Mountian Mountain Lions for AZPreps365.com

“This matchup is circled,” Red Mountain Mountain Lions head coach Kyle Enders said about Friday's football game against the Highland Hawks.

Red Mountain gave it everything it had.

The Mountain Lions (4-2) lost a back-and-forth game to the Hawks, 25-15. Highland has ended the Mountain Lions' season the past two years in the semifinals and went on to win the 6A conference championship, so to say this matchup is big is an understatement. 

“They have had our number the past two seasons, but we’re not that far off,” Enders added.

Highland (4-2) is a program that Red Mountain respects. The stakes couldn't have been greater in terms of confidence level for the Mountain Lions, who are desperately trying to get over the hump of not being able to reach a 6A championship game.

The first half was a battle of the two defenses. Red Mountain forced a three-and-out on the very first drive of the game, which set the tone. However, on Red Mountain's first drive, it turned the ball over on downs after quarterback Simon Lopez failed to escape the pocket and was sacked by defensive end Rhett Yetter.

Red Mountain's first score of the game came with 55 seconds left in the first quarter from a 59-yard touchdown from Lopez to Gunner Moore.

Highland's only touchdown of the first half was a result of poor pass defense from Red Mountain. Highland QB Kalen Fisher had two 30-plus yard completions that drove the Hawks down the field, capped off by a two-yard rushing touchdown from Jay Martin.

Outside of one touchdown each, the first half was full of punts and field goals, with Red Mountain going into the halftime break with a 12-10 lead.

"Details -- we've got to do our job,” said Red Mountain offensive coordinator Bryan McDaniel.

The second-half scoring began with a 40-yard field goal by Kai Evans to put Red Mountain up 15-10 in the third quarter. It was his third field goal of the night and second from 40 or more yards

“I kick every field goal the same. Stay relaxed. Consistency is what I like to focus on,” Evans said.

After that field goal, Red Mountain stalled out on both sides of the ball. Punting the very next drive, the Mountain Lions followed up by giving up a 40-yard touchdown to Highland receiver Greg Toler Jr. Soon, Lopez was picked off by Kody Cullimore, which resulted in a great field position for the Hawks to score another touchdown, this time on a rush by Martin for his second touchdown of the game.

The score was 25-15 Hawks with 3:44 left in the game when backup quarterback Kyle Heap for Red Mountain drove down the field into field goal range, then was picked off by Spencer Heath to put the dagger in the heart of Red Mountain. Highland kneeled out the game to burn the rest of the clock.

Despite second-half turnovers, the Mountain Lions had a strong showing against the defending 6A conference champions. If some of those field goals caused by penalties turned into touchdowns, there could've been a different outcome.

“We will get better, show up and finish it,” Enders said.

There is no loss of confidence for Red Mountain, just extra motivation as they come up on the final stretch of the regular season.