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ST. GEORGE — In the second round of the 4A playoffs, the Warriors of Snow Canyon hosted the Desert Hills Thunder. It was Desert Hills that came away with a 49-33 win to advance the team to the quarterfinals.
Desert Hills junior running back Tytan Mason gave Thunder fans plenty to be excited about Friday night as he scored six of the team's seven touchdowns — four rushing and two receiving. He got hot early, with his first touchdown coming less than five minutes into the game on a pass from quarterback Gerritt Grondel, and never stopped.
When Snow Canyon got the ball back, Talan Kelly lost a fumble on the first play of the drive. With the possession back with the Thunder already in Warriors territory. Mason wasted no time and returned to the end zone on the first play of the drive. He scored again with six minutes left in the half to give the Thunder the early three-score lead.
After Mason's third score, Snow Canyon finally answered with a touchdown of their own when Makaio Swensen reigning in a pass from Kelly to get the Warriors on the board. Mason scored another rushing touchdown with just over a minute left in the half to give Desert Hills a 28-6 lead as the teams went to the locker room at halftime.
Desert Hills was quiet in the third quarter and scored just once when Grondel ran the ball into the end zone on a QB keeper.
Snow Canyon built some momentum, though, and scored two touchdowns of their own to close the gap. The first came from Kelly on the ground, and the second came from Kelly through the air when he connected with Corbin Hafen with just over a minute left in the third quarter to cut into the Thunder lead.
Desert Hills was forced to sweat it out a bit when Snow Canyon delivered the first punch in the fourth quarter. Kelly connected with Semaj Thompson in the first couple minutes to cut into the Thunder lead.
With 24 points already under his belt, Mason was still hungry for more. He responded to the Warriors' touchdown by catching a pass from Grondel for his fifth touchdown of the night. But he didn't stop there and scored his sixth, this time on the ground, just over a minute later.
Kelly scored once more for Snow Canyon, but it wasn't enough to keep the team's season alive.
Desert Hills will head to Crimson Cliffs for the quarterfinal game on Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. MDT. The Thunder will look to get revenge after a 49-7 regular season loss to the Mustangs.
