By Brittany Bowyer
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SCOTTSDALE — The Horizon Huskies are now 3-0 to start the season after defeating the Cactus Cobras 35-3 on Thursday night at home. The Cobras have one of the stronger defenses of teams Horizon will face this year, and the Huskies handled the challenge with ease.

“This is one of the best defenses we’re going to play all season,” sophomore Dylan Brush said.

Horizon got off to a hot start, with defense forcing Cactus to punt the ball on the opening drive of the game. Taking over at their own 29-yard-line, the Huskies began chopping away at the chains, capitalizing on the posession with an 11-yard touchdown run by senior James Klopfenstein. The extra point attempt by Levi Floyd was good, making it 7-0 with 4:51 remaining in the first quarter.

On the following drive, Cactus sophomore quarterback Jacob Martin was picked off by senior Garrett Kerr. Taking over at their own 34-yard-line, Horizon again was able to move the ball down the field. The Huskies capped off the drive with a quarterback keeper from senior Cooper Peel from the one-yard-line. Floyd’s extra point was good, extending the lead to 14-0 with 10:04 left before the half.

Cactus started its next drive from the ten-yard-line. After a couple of explosive plays, the Cobras found themselves in the redzone. Unable to get the ball past the goal line, Cactus had to settle for a field goal attempt. The kick was good, cutting Horizon’s lead to 14-3 with 4:44 remaining in the second quarter.

Horizon’s following possession would end in a fumble after a Cactus defender was able to punch the ball loose on a play. From there, the teams exchanged possessions leading into the half.

With less than 30 seconds left to play before halftime, junior Vedder Wolfley had a huge sack, setting the tone as each team headed into the locker room.

“[Wolfley] comes out here, he lines up at linebacker, he lines up at end, he lines up anywhere we ask him,” Head Coach Tyson Ditmore said. “He wants to play physical football and I love that about him.”

Coming out of the half, Horizon got the ball to start things off and wasted no time getting rolling again. Sophomore Dylan Brush really started to come to life in the second half, leading the Huskies’ charge down the field. He finished off the drive with a ten-yard touchdown run to extend the lead. The extra point from Floyd was again good, making it 21-3 with 7:42 remaining in the third quarter.

“We came out and we were a little shaky on both sides of the ball,” Ditmore said. “We needed to make some adjustments. At halftime, they really took what we told them and the kids are smart. They knew what we wanted to do and they came out and executed.”

The following drive for Cactus resulted in a quick turnover on downs, with Horizon regaining possession at the Cobras’ 29-yard-line. After Klopfenstein worked to get the first down, Brush ripped off a beautiful 18-yard run to get the ball into the end zone and extend the lead. The kick from Floyd was good, extending the lead to 28-3 with 4:19 left in the third quarter.

“He’s just super physical,” Ditmore said about Brush. “He runs hard, he leans on people, he weighs on them. When he comes out in the second half he really gets in a groove, finds his holes.”

Later in the game, Horizon was able to tack on one final touchdown. Following an interception by junior Logan Tompkins, Brush capped off the drive with another one-yard touchdown run. Floyds kick was good, making the score 35-3 with just 2:44 remaining in the game.

Horizon’s offense still looks a little different than the Huskies anticipate it will look in the back half of the season. Right now, they’ve got Klopfenstein taking snaps at quarterback along with Peel as they await the eligibility of their incoming transfer, junior Kai Knudson.

“He’s a selfless leader,” Ditmore said. “I mean there’s a reason the kid’s a Division I football player... He’s the type of kid we really need to rely on right now.”

“Freshman year I played quarterback,” Klopfenstein said. “Last year, I took a little bit of Wildcat snaps, but I’ve always kind of had it in me.”

Horizon defense also did a phenomenal job tonight of making things a nightmare out there for the Cobras.

“We knew tonight they were going to be challenged with the run game,” Ditmore said. “They came out and they switched things up on us, they started throwing the ball. We executed, our DBs did a great job.”

“We’ve got the best defensive coordinator I’ve ever been with,” Klopfenstein said.

Horizon now prepares to take on Sunnyslope next week on the road. The game against Cactus being played on Thursday, the Huskies will have an extra day to rest and recover before traveling to face the Vikings.

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.