In the span of 107 seconds, Mesa Red Mountain turned a 7-6 deficit into a 20-point catapult toward a playoff run as it defeated Mesa Westwood 41-14 Friday in a 5A-I East Valley Region game.

 SLIDESHOW: Friday night high school football

“This was a good confidence builder for us,” Red Mountain coach Jim Jones said. “Next, we have (Mesa) Dobson and if we’re fortunate enough to win that one, it’s (Mesa) Mountain View.”

Starting at the 1:32 mark of the third quarter, the Mountain Lions (4-3, 1-0) went on a tear that pleased the homecoming crowd.

The scoring frenzy began with Brett Cerqua scoring his second touchdown of the game to give the Mountain Lions a 14-7 lead over the Warriors (1-7, 0-2).

Two plays later, Julian Madison intercepted a jump-ball pass that Red Mountain turned into a 56-yard touchdown pass from Derek Mendoza to Cody Saul, who had five catches for 109 yards.

“When he (Westwood quarterback Marshall Davis) he let it go I knew it was mine,” Madison said.

Not lost on Madison was the fact that his acrobatic interception completely flipped the game’s momentum.

“I knew it was (a game changer) after we scored right away,” he said.

On Westwood’s next play, Victor Mariano intercepted a Davis pass and returned it 24 yards for a game-clinching touchdown.

 “No way I was not going to score,” said Mariano, who recalled past experiences as a tight end. “I trusted that the linemen were going to clear the way once I made the interception.”

It was the second game in a row Mariano scored on an interception return.

If it wasn’t Mendoza’s bomb to Saul, certainly Mariano’s return put to rest any doubt about a Mountain Lion victory.

“That interception we returned for a touchdown really took the wind out of their sails,” Jones said.

To their credit, Westwood responded to the 20-point onslaught with a 15-play, 80-yard drive that concluded with a 17-yard touchdown run by Jake Tyra.

“It felt great to finally break through,” Tyra said. “They had been hitting hard all night. They hit me everywhere I didn’t have pads.”

Tyra closed the game with 106 yards on 20 carries.

The drive proved that despite the rough stretch, the Warriors could remain resilient.

“They continued to play hard,” Westwood coach Greg Mendez said.

The Warriors recovered with ensuing onside kick, but Madison’s second interception quashed any comeback hopes.

Two plays after Madison’s second interception, Red Mountain running back Derek Molina scored on a 56-yard touchdown run to make the score 34-14 with 5:52 left in the game.

Westwood’s Derek Molina led all rushers with 152 yards on 23 carries.