The Fiesta Region winners celebrated on the Chandler Hamilton sideline as 46-0 victors against neighboring Chandler, but both sides acknowledged the real winner sat on a golf cart behind the Chandler bench.

Wolves receiver/defensive end Dion Jordan is expected to leave the hospital for good today, a month after suffering severe burns up and down his body in a gasoline accident, but he was let out for three hours Friday night to watch this Fiesta Region matchup of undefeated teams end the regular season.

It was tough to watch. Even without Jordan, starting quarterback Payton Lacivita, Harold Bernard and two other starters, Chandler yielded to Hamilton’s running game and defensive speed, as the Huskies seized control of the No. 1 seed in next week’s playoffs by halftime.

Hamilton (10-0, 5-0) will host No. 16 Mesquite next Friday. Chandler (7-3, 4-1) will host Phoenix Desert Vista.

The Huskies had little to lose, and neither did Chandler, since both teams were guaranteed of playing at home next week, but the intra-city showdown still meant something, which made the Wolves quick exit a little more troubling.

“I’m disappointed,” Chandler coach Jim Ewan said. “Our punt team played well, that’s our bright spot. I know we have young kids and we’re missing people, but I’d like to see more fight.”

Lacivita will play next week, while Bernard is likely to play the week after (if Chandler gets that far).

As for Hamilton, their season continues on relatively unobstructed. The Huskies won their fourth consecutive region title.

Nothing short of a state championship is acceptable around these parts, but neither is missing the forest for the trees.

“That’s what we don’t want to lose sight of,” Huskies coach Steve Belles said. “(Region titles) mean something. You can’t take those for granted.”

Still, reminders could be heard from the Hamilton processional en route to the locker room, verbalizing to one another there are (theoretically) four more games to be played.

“It’s not over,” running back Covaughn DeBoskie said after he and Gerell Robinson combined for five touchdowns and more than 200 yards rushing behind a pile-driving offensive line.

“We’ve got to keep that championship in our minds.”

Not even the emotional return of Jordan could prevent this one from stretching to a 29-0 Hamilton lead by halftime, but with both teams’ home games already secured, Jordan’s presence served as a mental Post-It of bigger worries than Power Points.

“It was emotional for me, even though he’s on the other team,” DeBoskie said of Jordan, whom he visited before the game. “I felt sorrow for them.”