Scottsdale Saguaro's football team rolled onto the field at Canyon Del Oro in possession of a 37-game win streak, dating back to Oct. 27, 2006. That win streak included three straight state championships, including one (in 2007) won on a last-second field goal over the Dorados.

"That was a tough loss two years ago," said CDO head coach Dusty Peace. "But this is a whole different group of kids."

With a very different result.

The Dorados (6-0) stifled the Sabercats (4-1) at every turn, ending the game — and Saguaro's streak —with a 44-0 shutout victory, solidifying their No. 1 ranking in Arizona 4A-I.

"We knew it would be a big game," said senior defensive back Jared Tevis. "We just came out and played hard."

"It's very exciting for the entire program," said Peace.

The first quarter — a 0-0 stalemate — was pretty exciting as well, as a promising (for Saguaro) first and goal at CDO's 3-yard line went unfulfilled when the Dorados, led by senior lineman Colby Tigges, stuffed every Sabercat scoring attempt, and a 33-yard field goal kick sailed wide left.

In the second quarter, after a drive led by senior starting quarterback Mike Lewis (sporting a heavily-bandaged non-throwing hand), a field goal from senior kicker Tilghman Harvey with 7:50 left in the half ignited a scoring blitz that saw junior running back Ka'Deem Carey score on a diving one-yard touchdown run, and Tevis return an interception 25 yards for a touchdown.

The third quarter was more of the same, as in a two-minute span, Carey scored on runs of 84 and 44 yards to put the Dorados up 30-0.

In the final quarter, Carey added another 57-yard touchdown and junior backup quarterback Jason McBrayer added a three-yard dive over the goal line to finish the scorings.

Carey ended the game with 299 yards rushing on 19 carries, breaking the record for single-game yardage at CDO.

"He's a special kid, a special athlete," said Peace.

While Carey's record-breaking effort impressed his coach, Peace stressed that his defense shared the spotlight.

"Putting up a zero against a team like Saguaro is huge for our confidence defensively," said Peace.

The next test of that confidence comes this Friday, as the Dorados travel to take on rival Catalina Foothills. Tevis said the Dorados' win over Saguaro won't mean a letdown against the Falcons.

"We've just got to keep our minds straight," said Tevis.

Peace also cautioned against making too much of last Friday's win.

"This isn't the end of our season, it's the beginning," he said.

Despite the desire to focus on the immediate future, however, Peace is aware of the possibility of meeting the Sabercats again down the line — in the state playoffs.

"We know it could happen, and we know they'll come back ready for us," said Peace.