Autumn Young is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Mountain Ridge for AZPreps365.com

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Mountain Ridge’s flag football team will look to improve on its position in the 6A West Valley region when it faces off against Liberty on Tuesday. 

Mountain Ridge enters with an 11-2 overall record and a 3-1 record in the region, while Liberty has moved up to first place following a sweep of its games last week. With the regular season ending this week, this matchup could influence the regional standings and both teams' playoff positioning. 

Mountain Ridge coach Whitney Warmus said fundamentals remain a priority as the team prepares for Liberty. 

“Attention to detail is pretty much our biggest thing,” she said. “Staying focused, just having a flow to what we’re doing. Basically just the little things right now.” 

Mountain Ridge is ranked No. 4 in the 6A West Valley region and No. 3 in the 6A Conference. Its only losses came from No. 1 Highland and No. 2 Boulder Creek. 

“Every game we play is big, every week is obviously going to get bigger, but we just take it one game at a time,” Warmus said. “It doesn’t matter who it is, we pay attention to detail, we prepare for it, and just treat it like a big game every single time.” 

Quarterback Amiaya Tice leads the team in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns and touchdown passes, according to MaxPreps. Her contributions to both the running and passing games make her an important player to watch. 

“This Liberty game is big, but to us it’s just another game,” she said. “So we’re just putting in that extra work to get to the game, staying focused and being a team.” 

Liberty enters the game looking to build on its recent wins following a six-game losing streak earlier in October. The Lions defeated regional opponent Shadow Ridge on Thursday to improve to 8-6 on the season and move into first place in the region. 

Despite the losing streak, Liberty remains ranked No. 7 in the 6A Conference after its strong start and recent wins. 

Athletic director Keith Quaranto said in an email that KTVK, part of Arizona’s Family, will broadcast Tuesday’s matchup as its game of the week. 

Defensively, Mountain Ridge has allowed just under 100 points this season, with only five opponents scoring against it. Warmus said communication and preventing touchdowns have been key priorities for the defense. 

“Defensively, we’ve been on lock,” Warmus said. “We haven’t given up many touchdowns and that’s what we’ve been focusing on, having a strong defense and just communicating." 

Tahlia Hempen is one of the leaders on the team and said building connections among defenders has been a key part of the team’s preparation this week. 

“We’ve done a lot of preparation, mainly just focusing on team atmosphere and connections,” she said. “Making sure on defense that we’re building great relationships with each other that we can stop these offenses.” 

“Outcome is going to happen no matter what we do,” Warmus said. “But as long as we focus on our process, I know that they’ll be prepared and ready for it.”