The prolific Mountain Ridge football Class of 2023 does not want its last ride to end tonight.

For the second straight year, the Mountain Lions and their well-recruited class head east for a first round game in the 6A playoffs. They’re hoping to add an upset of No. 8 seed Mountain Pointe Friday to the stunner of knocking off No. 6 Mountain View in Mesa last year.

“I think we can accomplish a lot. We always talk about restoring the Ridge, knowing that Ridge had a history of not winning a lot of games and being not the best. Our freshman class went 8-1 and we’re all seniors now. We grew up together and played together. I feel like we can really make a run in our last year,” senior linebacker Christian Aguilar said.

Mountain Ridge brings a 5-5 record into the playoffs. But four of those decisive losses – Hamilton, Liberty, Centennial and O’Connor – were to teams that made the Open Division for the top eight teams in the state.

The fifth loss was to a Casteel team that just missed the Open Division and is the No. 9 ranked team in the state and No. 1 in the 6A bracket.

The new slate of opponents leaves the Mountain Lions optimistic.

“We want a championship. We feel like we have the talent to do that. Anything less than that is a disappointment,” senior quarterback Brendan Anderson said.

Six seniors at the north Glendale school have received an offer from an FCS or FBS school.

While the prolific passing game garners the most attention, it’s the bigger Mountain Lions seniors who have seen the most success in recruiting.

To have so many seniors with college Division I offers, and three of them verbally committed, is a sign of how far the football program and the class of 2023 have come.

“For us it really is about them accessing that education. And there’s more than just that who have offers and opportunities. When we got there 3 ½ years ago that wasn’t happening,” coach Doug Madoski said. “I think that this class will be the biggest number that we’ve sent out of Ridge in a long time. I think it speaks volumes to the kids that have come here and the work they’ve put in.”

It started with the biggest man and biggest name college program, as 6-6, 295-pound tackle Alex Doost verbally committed to Northwestern.

Just before the season began, 6-4 defensive end Jason Kirkland locked in with a verbal commitment to Cornell. He said he plans to major in engineering.

“I wanted to get the stress of getting committed done before the season, so I could really focus on that,” Kirkland said. “The coaches were all phenomenal. They took me around and made the visit really personal. As a university, the combination of great academics and really high quality football was something that stood out to me.”

Aguilar had the fastest moving process, receiving his first Division I offer from Drake University Oct. 20 committed to Drake Nov. 3. He said he wants to tudy business.

He said he heard from several schools based on his film this year. While he was still keeping things open a week before his verbal, Drake’s offer was enticing enough for him to decide.

“Honestly, the timing of meeting with the admissions rep that was in town soon after my offer and hearing more about the school and the scholarship I earned just helped me make the decision,” Aguilar said. “I knew I wanted to make a decision before the season ended as well.”

Anderson has four FCS offers, with October additions Drake and San Diego joining St. Thomas and Yale.

He said when he makes a choice he will be looking at the coaches and style of offense – and of course, the chance for playing time fairly soon. He said he wants to study business in college.

“It’s been slow, but I’ve learned that relationships are the most important thing, Coaches need to know all the ins and outs of you,” Anderson said.

His top target, Terrance Hall, also is waiting. Hall leads the team with 59 catches for 722 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Hall received an offer from Morgan State just before his junior season. He said he wants to study psychology.

And the 5-10 receiver realizes the film he put together this season is the key to more offers.

“I’m just going to play hard on the field and see where these last couple games get me,” Hall said. “I’m just going to wait until it’s the right opportunity. I haven’t had too many opportunities yet.”

Cornerback Korey Johnson received off season offers from FCS schools St. Thomas and Utah Tech. He suffered an injury Oct. 28 against Centennial and has not played in the last two weeks.

The hope is the Mountain Lions will be healthier to start the playoffs.

“When the defense is on and the offense on, it’s really entertaining to watch, and really fun to be a part of,” Kirkland said.

Whatever the result, this group led Mountain Ridge football out of the wilderness. In 2018, when these players were in eighth grade, the Mountain Lions went 0-10.

In February 2019, Mountain Ridge coach Vince Ciliberti was arrested on one count of suspicion of luring a minor for sexual exploitation and attempted sexual contact with a minor.

Madoski arrived in late May 2019 from Scottsdale Community College after Maricopa Community Colleges dropped football. The players enrolled a couple months later despite the rubble from the previous coach.

As freshmen, they watched Madoski lead the varsity to its first playoff game since 2010. Last year, they led the Mountain Lions to their first playoff win since 2004.

Madoski said their success speaks to the coaching staff, on campus academics and the determination of this senior class to change perceptions of the program.

“They made a decision to come here when they didn’t have to. And they came at an extremely low point