By Brittany Bowyer
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SCOTTSDALE — The Desert Mountain Wolves are continuing to prove why they’re one of the hottest teams in 5A with another big win on Friday night. The Wolves took down Tucson’s Ironwood Ridge 58-0, forcing a running clock for the second half of the game. Desert Mountain Head Coach Conrad Hamilton knows his team is capable of a lot this season, and although the game was a blowout, he knows there’s still room for improvement this week going into practice.

“Coach Hamilton said that he was going to look into hiring a ref to come into our practices to come and get our penalties down,” Senior Jett Archuletta said.

“We have lots of unnecessary penalties,” junior quarterback Jake Pilarcek said.

The penalties, which would prove to be an issue all night for the Wolves, started on the opening kickoff return. The Wolves were actually able to return the kickoff for a touchdown, but a flag for holding would see the ball moved back to their own 40-yard-line.

It didn’t discourage the Wolves, though, who were able to score in just four snaps. They capitalized on the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run by senior Ryan Cratty. The kick by senior Logan Blumling was good, making it 7-0 Wolves with 10:10 remaining in the first quarter.

For Desert Mountain’s following drive, Pilarcek was able to find sophomore Kai Hasenyager, who took it 47 yards for a touchdown. Blumling’s extra point attempt was good, extending the lead to 14-0 with 8:10 still left to play in the first quarter.

Ironwood Ridge’s following possession would result in a field goal attempt, but Desert Mountain special teams was hot tonight. They were able to block the field goal attempt, keeping the Nighthawks from getting on the board.

Desert Mountain would take over at the 38-yard-line, but the offense’s time on the field would be short-lived. The ball was fumbled on the first play of the drive and recovered by senior Elijah Flores of Ironwood Ridge. The Nighthawks took back over at the 39-yard-line and would eventually settle for attempting another field goal. It was wide, making it no good.

The Wolves took over at the 32-yard-line and had an easy time moving the ball down the field. In just five plays, they moved the ball 68 yards, capping it off with a three-yard touchdown run from senior Evan Dowd. Blumling’s kick was good, making it 21-0 with 10:09 left in the half.

Desert Mountain defense forced a punt, giving the Wolves possession at midfield with 7:40 left before halftime. Continuing to be extremely efficient, it only took four plays to reach the end zone. The touchdown came on a 10-yard run from Cratty, with a good kick from Blumling, making it 28-0 with 6:22 left to play still.

On Ironwood Ridge’s following drive, disaster ensued. After running the ball for a loss of two yards, the Nighthawks fumbled the snap on the second play of the drive, which was recovered around the 17-yard-line by Archuletta and taken in for a touchdown. Blumling’s kick was again up and in, making it 35-0 with 5:02 still remaining.

“I just saw the ball on the ground, and I picked it up,” Archuletta said. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, the ball is right there.’ So I scored it, it was awesome. Probably one of the greatest feelings, and a pretty easy touchdown, yeah.”

“[Archuletta] is playing great,” Hamilton said. “He’s playing great on special teams, he’s tackling, he’s blitzing well and doing a lot of stuff for us. So another great addition for us this year. Son of a first-round pick, ASU legend, all that stuff. Adam actually coaches with us during the week. Unfortunately, he had to go out of town to announce his game. So it’s good to have him here with our program, coaching and teaching.”

Just before the half, Desert Mountain was able to further extend the lead on a pass from Pilarcek to senior Isaiah Justice. Blumling kicked the extra point attempt, making it 42-0 going into the locker rooms.

Ironwood Ridge got possession coming out of the half, but they still struggled to find yardage. After a quick three-and-out the Nighthawks went to punt, but it would ultimately end up resulting in a safety on the play. With a running clock, the Wolves were up 44-0.

Desert Mountain put in all the backups on the next offensive drive, and senior Rocco Madda was picked off by Flores with around 7:00 remaining in the third quarter.

Later on in the game, Dowd was able to break away for another huge touchdown run. Blumling’s kick was good, making it 51-0 with around a minute left in the third quarter.

The Wolves were able to put up one final touchdown with 1:22 remaining on a quarterback keeper from third-string ball slinger Bohdi Walker. The kick was again good, making the final score 58-0.

Now, Desert Mountain prepares to take on Chaparral in the, “Battle of Shea”. While Trace Carroll said after Thursday’s loss to Notre Dame Prep he is proud of what they’re building over at Chaparral, Coach Hamilton and his crew aren’t sure it will hold up against his battle-tested Wolves.

“Chaparral is our next opponent, that’s who we’re going to focus on,” Hamilton said. “I’m glad that they’re building something back up, I used to coach there. I was a big part of the success that was there with the Raegle days. All my kids went to school there, so kudos to Chap for what [Carroll] is trying to do over there, but you know, when Desert Mountain and Chaparral face off, it’s going to be a challenge for them to take the State Champs down for sure.”

“I’m just looking forward to beating them,” Pilarcek said. “I feel like there’s lots of tension between us, so I’m really looking forward to beating them.”

For players like Archuletta, the game feels a little more personal.

“I just transferred from there,” Archuletta said. “It’s a pretty heated game for me. I’m very excited for that game. Very excited.”

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.