Desert Ridge's 2011 football season is looking very much like a reflection of 2010. Fast start, a dab of trouble in the miiddle and a well-oiled machine at the end heading to the playoffs.

The two-headed monster Thursday night of Parker Rasmussen and Joey Counts rocked and rolled, guiding Desert Ridge to a 38-14 romp over playoff-bound Boulder Creek in the Division I regular-season finale for both at Desert Ridge.

Desert Ridge, which entered the game at No. 6 in the D-I power rankings, improved to 8-2 and ran its winning streak to four games. Boulder Creek, No. 10 in the power rankings prior to the game, dropped to 6-4.

With talented running back, sometimes quarterback Jordan Becerra sidelined with an ankle injury suffered this week in practice, Rasmussen and Counts were more than Boulder Creek could handle. Rasmussen accounted for four touchdowns, two rushing and two passing. He opened the game flipping an 85-yard scoring pass to Damani Moseby on the second play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead. Rasmussen finished with 170 yards passing and 77 rushing. He scored on runs of 20 yards and 2 yards. He also threw a TD pass to Rudy Jiminez (15 yards in the final quarter).

Counts, Rasmussen and Becerra have played musical chairs missing games this season. Coach Jeremy Hathcock hopes Becerra will be ready for game action next week and the opening round of the playoffs.

Counts, who rushed for a big-school state record 411 yards last week, put up another 233 yards on 27 carries on Thursday. He scored Desert Ridge's third of four first-half touchdowns on an 18-yard run as the Jaguars breezed to a 28-0 lead at halftime. Boulder Creek put together two long drives in the first half, but came away empty as the were stopped on downs at the Desert Ridge 20 and missed a 23-yard field-goal attempt.

The win completed a perfect October for Desert Ridge, which has excelled in games that month of late. Over the last five seasons Desert Ridge is 18-2 in Ocotober with the only October defeats in that span coming vs. Skyline by three points (2007) and Mountain Pointe by one point (2009).  Unless a horrendous August and September preceded October, flawless October play usually means playoffs and momentum. Desert Ridge has both as it now gets ready for a sixth consecutive postseason appearance under Hathcock.

Boulder Creek managed to score a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, after trailing 31-0 after three periods. Quarterback Trevor Bonifasi thew a 41-yard TD pass to Stephen Landeros early in the fourth quarter as Landeros outfought two defenders for the catch in the end zone. Defensivie lineman Zach Labno recovered a fumble in the end zone by Desert Ridge backup quarterback Josh Ferguson for Boulder Creek's other score.