By Brittany Bowyer
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SCOTTSDALE — It was the closest game Desert Mountain has played in since last year, but the Wolves were able to outlast Horizon on the road 24-15 to pick up yet another victory.

Horizon brought the energy coming out of the gate, leading the Wolves 15-10 at half. However, they couldn’t keep the momentum going coming back out of the locker room. Desert Mountain came out with explosive energy to start the third quarter, scoring on back-to-back possessions to regain the lead.

“We can’t play a second half like we played,” Horizon Head Coach Tyson Ditmore said. “We turned the ball over. We gave up 14 unanswered points. We need to do a better job of taking care of business in the second half.”

Horizon got the ball to start but was unable to do anything early, punting it away on the first possession. A holding call would back Desert Mountain up to the five-yard-line, which led to trouble for the Wolves. On the first snap of the drive, junior quarterback Jake Pilarcek was backed up and taken down in the end zone for a safety. With 10:00 remaining in the first quarter, Horizon was up 2-0.

“We didn’t play well early,” Desert Mountain Head Coach Conrad Hamilton said. “Giving up that safety really took a lot of the momentum out of the play.”

Horizon got the ball back and on the following possession, junior quarterback Kai Knudson was able to connect with sophomore Dylan Brush for a long touchdown, extending the lead. The extra point attempt was blocked, making it 8-0 Horizon with 7:38 remaining.

Desert Mountain was able to answer with a kickoff return for a touchdown from senior Iam Mizan. The extra point attempt by Logan Blumling was good, making it 8-7 with 7:19 remaining in the first quarter.

Horizon and Desert Mountain would both go on to punt on their following possessions.

Horizon got the ball back with 3:29 remaining in the first quarter, but the possession would be shortlived. A fumble by the Huskies would be recovered by Desert Mountain with 3:15 remaining, eventually setting the Wolves up for a field goal. Blumling’s kick was good, giving Desert Mountain a 10-8 lead with 8:46 remaining in the half.

The next possession for Horizon resulted in a quick three and out, while Desert Mountain’s following possession brought a turnover on downs.

With 5:07 remaining, Horizon got the ball back at the 32-yard-line. From there, they chopped away at the chains while running the clock down before eventually scoring on a nine-yard pass from Knudson to junior Colton Johnson. The kick from junior Levi Floyd was good, making it 15-10 Horizon with just :08 left on the clock.

“You’ve gotta give them credit,” Hamilton said. “They played well in front of their home crowd early on. But I think we just kind of settled down later on in the second half and started to get after them a little bit on defense.”

Coming back out of the half, Desert Mountain got the ball to start. Senior Ryan Cratty got to work running the ball and moving the chains, getting the Wolves a majority of the way down the field. Once in the red zone, senior Evan Dowd got to work, carrying the ball 12 yards before he punched the ball in for a two-yard touchdown. Blumling’s kick was good, making it 17-15 with 7:16 remaining.

On Horizon’s following possession, another fumble would ultimately be recoverered by the Wolves,

Desert Mountain took over and were able to score once again, this time coming on a one-yard run from Dowd. The kick from Blumling was good, extending Desert Mountain’s lead with 3:44 remaining.

“Evan Dowd, he’s the jack of all trades,” Hamilton said. “He plays on special teams, he’s a receiver, he comes in on short yards as a quarterback wildcat lately... He’s kinda selfeless, he does what he needs to do, runs out there on kickoffs and makes tackles. He’s a special kid for us.”

Horizon had a few other opportunities with the ball in the remaining minutes of the game, but struggled to do anything with the ball. Horizon punted the ball away with 9:06 remaining, and the Wolves would go on to run the clock out and eventually win the game.

“Credit to those guys,” Ditmore said. “They’re experienced. They’re returning State Champs for a reason. So we’ve just got to get back in the facility tomorrow and get better.”

With one week remaining in the regular season, coaches are locking in on the final game in front of them before the playoffs begin.

For Horizon, the final test of the regular season will come against Chaparral.

Meanwhile for Desert Mountain, they’ll host Notre Dame Prep in hopes of getting some vengeance from last year.

“We’ve got a bone to pick with them,” Hamilton said. “They kicked our tails last year over there at their spot, so. We’ve got senior night next week. We’ve got about 30 seniors that we want to kind of honor. We want to also go out there and win the game so we can number one win the section and number two be the number one overall seed. That’s our goal.”

Brittany Bowyer is a Report for America corps member, covering sports for Independent Newsmedia in Arizona. Report for America places talented journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and regions.