Chase Heflin is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Valley Vista High School for AZPreps365.com.

SURPRISE – It is Monsoon season as the annual Valley Vista homecoming game came about. The home crowd left with smiles on their faces and roses in their pockets. The Valley Vista Monsoon extended their nascent winning streak to two games as they destroyed the La Joya Community High School Fighting Lobos, 48-8.

The Lobos gave Valley Vista a bit of a scare in the first quarter, opening in a five-wide spread formation. The visitors quickly marched down the field with a seven-play drive ending with a touchdown. To make matters worse, though the Monsoon blocked the extra point, La Joya recovered and pushed the pigskin past the pylon to take an 8-0 lead early in the first quarter.

The home crowd was in a state of shock: an opponent with zero wins had scored that easily on their defense. The Monsoon responded with a drive that went for negative yardage and punted. To some, it appeared the homecoming game may be spoiled by the visiting Lobos.

The Monsoon defense held on their second drive, forcing a punt. Then momentum would swing. Senior cornerback Michael James returned the La Joya punt 70 yards for a touchdown that sent a shockwave throughout the sideline, making the score 8-7. “I always want to give our team a spark, I have been playing football my whole life," James said. "It’s what I do.”

The Monsoon would never look back.

Valley Vista only had seven yards of total offense after this first quarter but, one could sense the floodgates were ready to burst wide open. The importance of special teams was highlighted once again at the beginning of the second quarter. James returned a punt for more than 40 yards, setting up the Monsoon offense in the red zone.

Valley Vista quickly capitalized on the great field position with a touchdown. Senior running back Ethan Espinosa gave his team a 14-8 lead after an 11-yard touchdown run, and the rout was on! Valley Vista continued its defensive dominance of the first half as junior safety Carter Price recorded the first of his two interceptions. Price's pick set up a 10-yard touchdown pass from Adrian Crespin to Andrew Zacek, putting the Monsoon up 21-8. The Valley Vista offense only managed 124 total yards of offense in the first half, but defense and special teams were flexing their muscles. The defense forced five straight punts before intermission.

At halftime, head coach Derek Wahlstrom seemed very emotional as he sprinted into the locker room clapping his hands and exhorting his team. When asked what was said at halftime, Wahlstrom responded, “I told my team we need to keep our foot on the gas in the second half.” The team registered that message and then some.

Valley Vista opened the second half with Blaire Nelson fielding the La Joya kickof at the 15 and racing 85-yards to paydirt. Nelson's score ballooned the lead to 27-8. In addition, the Monsoon began their first offensive possession of the second half with a no-huddle and up-tempo approach, catching the Lobos off-guard. Coach Wahlstrom stated that he wanted to give La Joya a taste of Monsoon football. “I wanted to rejuvenate our team and get back to the way we want to play.”

The offense responded well to the new philosophy from their coach, marching down the field in less than three minutes to score a touchdown and widen the margin to 34-8.

With such a large lead, the Monsoon defense was able to pin their ears back and rush the passer. The defense recorded three sacks and two takeaways in the fourth quarter alone. Valley Vista would add a pair of rushing touchdowns to bring the score to 48-8. A season-high point total may have been overshadowed by a Monsoon defense that forced nine straight scoreless possessions, an overall a great night for the home team.

Valley Vista will look to make it three wins in a row when they host Mountain Ridge next week.