The Cesar Chavez Champions face their toughest challenge of the 2018 season when they go up against the Perry Pumas Friday night in Gilbert.

The Champions (2-2) are fresh off their 64-3 thrashing of Mountain Ridge while the Pumas also won last week, but in a lot more exciting fashion. Perry outlasted Sandra Day O’Connor 75-68 in arguably the most exciting game of the early season.

Cesar Chavez will be entering Friday’s game as big underdogs, Perry is ranked No. 7 in the state, according to MaxPreps.

The Champions are led offensively by quarterback Lucas Arnds and running back Andrew Blitzke. Arnds has thrown for 965 yards over the first four games of the season and totaled six touchdowns on the year. However, he has thrown six interceptions as well, and turnovers must be held to a minimum against Perry.

After the Mountain Ridge win, Arnds said he felt things were finally beginning to turn around for the Champions.

“Coming off those first two losses things were a little bit low, but after the big win our confidence is huge,” he said, “Perry’s a tough team, and we just need to prepare for them. We’re going to come out with a fight against Perry.”

Blitzke, the 2017 6A Metro Region Player of the Year, has had a successful senior season, running the ball for 432 yards on 54 carries in four games. He is averaging 108 yards per game and has scored touchdowns seven times this season.

Here is the must-know information about Perry:

The Pumas (3-1) find themselves in their most successful period in school history. The past two seasons they lost a combined four games all to the same team: Chandler. Their star quarterback of the last two seasons, Brock Purdy, graduated and plays for Iowa State University. His replacement is his little brother, Chubba.

Chubba Purdy has thrown for 912 yards in his first four career high school starts and has found the end zone 16 times on the year, 11 through the air and five on the ground. Purdy has thrown three interceptions, but all of those came in their first game against Pinnacle, their only loss of the season.

Purdy’s primary target will be receiver Colby Dickie. The senior has caught 18 passes through the four games for a total of 291 yards and four touchdowns.

On the ground, Perry is led by senior Jalen Young who might be one of the most elusive backs in the state. Young has 417 yards this season along with two touchdowns.

The Pumas are missing one of their most dynamic threats. D’Shayne James had a season-ending knee injury in a preseason practice and is out for the year. James added height to the receiver position and caught 45 passes for more than 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns last season.

Cesar Chavez knows it is heading into Friday’s game as the underdogs, but that does not phase coach Manuel Alcantar or his team.

“They’re ranked off what they’ve done,” he said. “They’ve beaten some tough teams. The best thing about being an underdog is if you beat a high-ranked team you get the power points. Our goal is to go to the playoffs. We’re worried about making the playoffs. Rankings don’t matter.”