Typically if the Mustangs run on eight straight plays, most of those are from the quarterback and several are not deigned runs. That was not the case Friday night.

Following junior Elijah Anderson’s interception of Will Haskell in the end zone, the Mustangs handed it off to Underhill eight straight times for 69 total yards.

That set up the home team’s first touchdown and set the tone for the night in the 5A Northwest Region opener. No. 17 Sunrise Mountain (4-2, 1-0 region) dominated both lines of scrimmage en route to a 39-14 win against No. 9 Ironwood (4-2, 0-1).

“These guys blocking for me did a great job,” Underhill said. “I got a couple reps over the summer and was playing a little bit of running back but I primarily played receiver. “

Four weeks ago, the 5-foot-8, 165-pound Underhill was not even a tailback. Then junior starter Bryce Cord was transported to the hospital against rival Liberty on Sept. 6 with what turned out to be a concussion.

Cord is back now but he and Underhill have essentially switched roles. Underhill is the tailback and receiver out of the backfield, while Cord plays more on the perimeter and out of regular contact as a receiver and cornerback.

“The o-line and running the football has been a big emphasis for us in recent weeks. But I didn’t expect this. It was great,” Sunrise Mountain coach Steve Decker said. “It’s a credit to Bryce and Jackson. Bryce is back and ready to go. We’re taking it easy with him. Jackson has stepped up and taken that role and he’s a great receiver out of the backfield.”

Underhill did all of his damage in the first half, with 15 of his 16 carries and 112 of his 114 yards. Senior T.J. Niang handled matters in the second half once the Mustangs grabbed a 36-0 lead, with 16 carries for 76 yards.

With that threat establishes, senior quarterback Alex Gianoli scored three touchdowns and gained 48 yards on 11 carries. Johnson and the front wall had their way no matter who was running.

“Our run game improved because our o-line, especially, we’re hanging out a lot more and making that bond, Once you start getting the communication going, you’re pretty unstoppable,” Johnson said. “Robbie Maple is our junior center and the past couple games he hasn’t really taken charge but  this game he did. Ironwood runs a certain formation that forces everyone to stop and check to something else. He really took control of communicating.”

On the flip side, the Sunrise Mountain front seven managed to pressure Haskell while maintaining gap discipline and not giving him the opportunity to scramble. The Eagles junior quarterback has offers from Duke and Iowa State and showed why on the first snap, dashing more than 50 yards into the red zone.

But an Ironwood holding call sent the visitors back to midfield. From there Haskell had little time to throw and regularly backpedaled too far in trying to avoid the rush.

The Mustangs finished the first half with six sacks for a negative 71 yards. Senior linebacker Chase Rudders led the way with three, while junior linebacker Tommy Arnold and senior linebacker Justin Wilda also got in on the action.

“They’re a 4-1 team and we know how good Will is. You saw what he could do that first play,” Decker said. “Our defensive coordinators worked on that all week, his rush lanes and staying disciplined. We were disciplined and he even got out of a few tackles. That’s a credit to how good he is. Our d-line and linebackers did a great job.”

The defense and special teams set up the defining sequence of the game — three Sunrise Mountain touchdowns on short fields in the final five minutes of the first half.

Their first drive began at the Eagles 46 and Gianoli stumbled in for a 9-yard touchdown on third and goal. He then ran in the two-point conversion for a 16-0 advantage with 4:03 left in the half.

Sophomore Easton Black then recovered his own onside kick at the Ironwood 49. Four plays later, junior tailback/cornerback Brandon Bogard took a sweep 23 yards for the score.

Haskell threw off his back foot to avoid a safety but Cord picked him off at his own 38. Gianoli hit Underhill for 13 then scored on a 6-yard run to push the halftime lead to 29-0.

“Our defense locked up that quarterback great. Justin Wilda kept him contained on the outside,” Underhill said.

Early in the third quarter, Gianoli and Underhill teamed up again for 16 yards on a fourth and 13 screen pass. The quarterback scored from 1 yard out the next play.

Then things went haywire. Ironwood was forced to punt but recovered a fumble on the return. A scuffle followed and Sunrise Mountain was flagged for a personal foul.

“We expected them to trash talk. That was one thing coach Decker warned us about. He told us not to respond,” Johnson said.

Two plays later, Haskell connected with junior receiver Elijah Sanders on a fly pattern for a 39-yard touchdown. Haskell tried to run in the two-pointer and dove but a hit up high stopped him inches short.

He was treated for an injury and first-year Ironwood coach Chris Rizzo argued for a personal foul on the hit and was ejected. An Eagles player had been ejected in the first half on a punt return.

Another Ironwood ejection followed on the ensuing kickoff, with two personal fouls moving the Mustangs to the Eagles’ 40. A third personal foul preceded Black’s 26-yard field goal.

“We talked with the kids all week because you could see on film how much Ironwood talked. We made sure it was understood,” Decker said. “We do ‘penalty hill,’ and we let them know if you got a personal foul this week, it was double. I though our guys were fantastic.”

Haskell scrambled for a 21-yard touchdown on the next drive, but an illegal block in the back wiped it out. And that illegal block broke the arm of Mustangs senior safety Jared Pellerin — which bent at a grotesque angle.

Haskell scored on a 19-yard run following the injury. But both teams just wanted the game to end by that point.

“The block in the back broke his arm and it was dangling. He’s going to have surgery and it’s just awful,” Decker said. “He’s a good player and had come back to us.”