Desert Ridge saw its early 13-0 lead over Desert Vista vanish Friday night when the Thunder took the first eight minutes of the third period to march 78 yards and grab its first lead of the game, 14-13.

Did that concern now veteran Jaguars quarterback Joey Becerra, the starter the last four games?

"I never had any doubts," Becerra said. "We had a bunch of lead changes when we played Chandler. No doubts."

Becerra and backfield mate Joey Counts unleashed a lethal rushing and scoring barrage in the final 14 minutes that paved the way for No. 10 seed Desert Ridge to knock off No. 3 seed Desert Vista, 41-17, in a 5A-I semifinal game at Mesquite High School.

Desert Ridge won its eighth game in a row to improve to 10-3 and earn a berth opposite two-time defending champ Hamilton on Dec. 13 at  4 p.m. at University of Phoenix Stadium. Hamilton eliminated Mountain Pointe with a methodical 34-10 victory at Chandler High.

Desert Ridge coach Jeremy Hathcock, who took over the program in 2006 and has guided the Jaguars to the playoffs each year, wasn't surprised to see his team continue its roll with a quarterback and philosophy change over the last month plus.

"No, I'm not surprised," Hathcock said. "I believed in our guys ability to step up and do well. When you have guys with 4.5 speed like Jordan Becerra and Joey Counts, our guys believe in them."

Becerra, a 5-foot-10, 165-pound speedy junior carried 28 times for 254 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Counts, the more robust of the two at 5-9, 200, rushed 27 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Counts first  TD -- a 46-yard run -- put  Desert Ridge back in front, 21-14, just more than two  minutes after Desert Vista grabbed the lead.

Even with Counts quick-strike score, Desert Vista responded with a 31-yard field goal by John Gieseking on its next possession to pull within 21-17 with 11:49 left in the game. 

And when Desert Ridge kicker Danny Berzins failed to connect on a 29-yard field-goal attempt on the Jaguars ensuing possession with six minutes left, Desert Vista had possession and a chance to retake the lead.

The Thunder went right for the Jaguars throat on their first play. Quarterback  Hunter Rodriguez used a play action fake and fired a perfect strike to a streaking Shaw Loomer on a post pattern. Loomer was wide open, but the ball popped in and out of his hands at midfield. Desert Ridge surrendered one first down after that and then forced a punt with three minutes left.

Two plays later, Becerra raced around left end with great blocking and raced 55 yards for the back-breaking score that made it  28-17.

"That's a great football team," Desert Vista coach Dan Hinds said. "You have to hand it to (coach) Jeremy (Hathcock) and Desert Ridge. Those plays were huge for them. We knew it was going to be a shootout. Momentum is a big thing adn they got it at the end."

Counts added a 21-yard TD run with 2:33 ton play after Desert Ridge recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff following Becerra's first score. Becerra scored one more time on a 64-yard run with under 1:30 left.

Desert Ridge is the first Gilbert district school to reach a football title game in 25 years. The last time it happened was 1985 when Gilbert High defeated Cactus and Gilbert High was the only high school in Gilbert.