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WASHINGTON — Death, taxes, and the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs.
Such has been the case in 4A football this season. The Mustangs proved themselves as a well-rounded team, yet again, with a 41-16 victory over the Desert Hills Thunder Friday night.
Crimson Cliffs made sure to get on the board first, and did so early. Just minutes after kickoff, Steele Barben used the first offensive drive to earn his 39th touchdown pass of the season by finding Malakai Alofipo to get the scoring going. Barben threw another TD pass, this time to Tyler West, less than a minute later.
The second quarter is when Crimson Cliffs' McCord Christiansen's quest for a three-touchdown game began. Before Desert Hills could respond to a 13-0 deficit, Christiansen built on the Mustangs' lead with his first rushing score of the night.
As halftime approached, Thunder quarterback Gerritt Grondel found Javiyen Cummings in the end zone to spoil the shutout.
The Mustangs never let off on the gas and scored twice more in the third quarter. Barben and West connected once more, and Christiansen ran another one in for two insurance touchdowns. Desert Hills tacked on 3 points, courtesy of a Hayden Porter field goal, in an attempt to hold on.
Christiansen punctuated his and that of his team's impressive night with one more rushing touchdown. With that, the Mustangs stayed quiet for the remainder of the game but allowed Grondel to find Marcus Anderson for the Thunder's last points of the season.
"It's an amazing feeling to win and be able to go to (the University of) Utah," Christiansen said, before speaking about Crimson Cliffs fans. "We call them the Red Kingdom. I think they'll follow us up there."
The Mustangs now set their sights on a semifinal game in northern Utah. Crimson Cliffs will play Ridgeline at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Friday, Nov. 10 at 6 p.m. MST.
