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ST. GEORGE — Desert Hills scored three touchdowns in three minutes late in the 4A championship game to defeat cross-county rival Crimson Cliffs 30-14 Friday night.
"It's unbelievable," Desert Hills head coach Rick Berry said. "Great win for our program."
The two Washington County programs came into Friday's game at the top of 4A and a combined record of 19-5.
"Look at the sell-out; this is big here," Berry said of the rivalry game. "The kids played hard in this. I told Coach (Ed) Lamb at BYU today, 'You guys have no idea the talent we have in southern Utah.' It showed today."
The Thunder dominated the majority of the game — at least defensively — but struggled to score following a touchdown three minutes into the game. A field goal gave Desert Hills a 9-0 lead with 3:46 left in the first quarter, but it took another 28 minutes before either team scored again.
Desert Hills broke the scoring drought when Beau Hall broke off for a 30-yard run into the red zone, followed by a goal-line keeper to go up 16-0 late in the third quarter.
Mason Topalian got one back for Crimson Cliffs early in the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs were unable to get the 2-point conversion to make the score 16-6. The contagious scoring continued, however, and Desert Hills all but sealed the game with a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to go up 23-6 with 10:43 left.
The Thunder added insult to injury minutes later with an interception by Lincoln Holmes and Tyden Morris ran in the touchdown to go up 30-6 with 9:12 remaining. Boston Adamson got Crimson Cliffs a consolation score with 4:38 to go to make it 30-14, but it was too little, too late at that point.
