Throwback Thursday: Mountain Pointe triumphs in 2013

Mountain Pointe was written off and overlooked. At least, that’s how the players felt in the fall of 2013 when they took a 5 hour bus ride to Las Vegas to face off against national power Bishop Gorman. 

It was a game that some believed the Pride were overzealous to accept. And perhaps for good reason. 

Gorman was coming off another Nevada state championship season in 2012 and had a roster that featured multiple major Division I college football players and some future NFL talent in tight end Brevin Jordan (Texans), quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson (Browns) and defensive tackle Haskell Garrett (Titans – now a free agent). 

Mountain Pointe was coming off its best season in years, a 12-2 record that ended with a loss to Hamilton in the state championship. The Pride felt their chances against Bishop Gorman were good. Not many others felt the same. 

But that only motivated the Pride players. 

“We actually won the game the night before,” said Eric Lauer, an assistant coach under Norris Vaughan in 2013. “They had a players only meeting in one of the ball rooms of the Palace Station Hotel where we were staying. We were listening from outside the doors. 

“The heartfelt commitment and appreciation they shared with each other fortified their solidarity. Then 10 minutes before kick off when we came out, the team locked their arms and started swaying back and forth.” 

Lauer added that was the moment everything changed for Mountain Pointe. 

“You could feel the pressure of the physical dam was about to break,” he said.

That it did. 

Mountain Pointe, in the first-ever live sporting event broadcast on Fox Sports 1, stunned Bishop Gorman and the nation. The rushing attack caught the Gaels off guard, as the Pride set the tone early with a 48-yard touchdown run by Paul Lucas. 

From there, Lucas and Wesley Payne – with the help of an offensive line led by 6-foot-3, 320-pounder Natrell Curtis – wore down the Bishop Gorman defense. The Pride tallied up 330 rushing yards in the win. Antonio Hinojosa, the Pride quarterback, managed the clock to perfection — something he did well throughout his high school career.

The early blow from Mountain Pointe took away momentum from Gorman, who looked to establish its passing game early behind Randell Cunningham Jr. But just as the offense did, the Pride defense came to play. 

“In the first half they thought we were going to run wide and throw a little, but we had to give them a little Southern hospitality and show them we could pick up the tough yards by running right at them,” Vaughan told Jason Skoda of the East Valley Tribune. 

Mountain Pointe headed home with a win and rallied off 13 more en route to the program’s first-ever state championship. The Pride ended the 2013 season as the No. 5 ranked team in the nation, according to MaxPreps. 

The team was special for many reasons beyond their love for one another. The pure talent puts this Pride team in the conversation for best team ever in Arizona high school football history. 

Defensive back Ke’Shawn Churchwell was a sophomore. Wideout Jalen Brown was a senior. Trey Lauer was also a senior, while Antwaun Woodberry was one of just a handful of freshmen on the roster. 

Payne, a senior, went on to become one of the most dominant running backs and linebackers in the state that season. Emmanuel Butler was a future pro. Wideout Timmy Hernandez carved out a nice career for himself at Oregon State after the 2013 season. 

Lucas, a junior at the time, went on to shine on the track. Mitchell Fraboni is still in the NFL as a long snapper for the Broncos. 

The talent rivals other top teams to ever be assembled. Lauer said it was also one of the most fun times he’s had as a coach. 

“The most pound-for-pound physical team I’ve ever been around,” Lauer said. 

The 2013 Pride carried on a foundation set by the 2012 team and built on it. Mountain Pointe went on to be one of the contenders for a state title each year after that through 2017. The Pride won at least 10 games or more every season, and made the semifinals four times and the championship once. 

They rivaled Chandler for many years, as the Wolves became a national power themselves with Paul Perkins, Chase Lucas and N’Keal Harry leading the charge, among others. 

But what Mountain Pointe accomplished in 2013 – going to Las Vegas to knock off national power and four-time defending Nevada state champion Bishop Gorman – will forever live in Arizona high school football history. 

To date, Mountain Pointe is one of three Arizona teams to ever beat Bishop Gorman, joining Hamilton and Centennial. The Huskies are the only team to beat the Gaels twice (2010 and 2021).