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ST. GEORGE – The Desert Hills Thunder picked up their first home win of the season Friday night with a 35-14 performance against the Pine View Panthers.
With region play underway, both teams now sit at 2-2.
Desert Hills, in their homecoming game, asserted their dominance early by scoring on the opening possession. Helped downfield by a Panthers facemask penalty, the Thunder landed their first punch by way of Tytan Mason in what was his first of two touchdowns on the night.
Mason led all players with 124 rushing yards and moved his Thunder-leading touchdown total to nine in just four games.
"It was a great job by the O-line; the boys were working hard tonight," Mason said, crediting his teammates for his success.
Pine View was able to answer back, but not until midway through the second quarter. Quarterback Levi Shaw threw to fellow junior Corbin Yocham to get the Panthers on the board to tie the game.
But after just three minutes of playing time, Desert Hills was back on top. This time, senior quarterback Gerrit Grondel found Koy Duckett for the sophomore's first varsity touchdown.
The Thunder kept up the intensity, holding their opponent to a three-and-out and taking over on the Panthers' 30-yard line. The drive lasted merely seconds before Isaac Andresen found the end zone for a touchdown, also the first of his varsity career.
Down by 14, the Panthers were determined to get their fans excited as halftime approached. With assistance from two defensive pass interferences and an offsides penalty, the drive finished with Shaw throwing a fourth-down pass into the arms of a diving Kyle Richardson, good for another 6 points.
Pine View had a perfect opportunity to shift the momentum in their favor when they started the second half. The Panthers offense looked good when Shaw threw a deep pass to Brock Harris, who entered Thunder territory, only for the play to result in a lost fumble.
Though the Thunder did not score on the resulting possession, the damage was done.
Desert Hills had taken nearly all the steam out of Pine View. If that wasn't enough, Zackary Darger intercepted a Shaw pass to end the Panthers' next drive and take the game into the final quarter.
The game had two more touchdowns before the final buzzer, both on rushing plays. Mason punched his way in for one, and the other was from Desert Hills' newly-crowned homecoming king Cyrus Polu.
"It's been good to have offensive leaders on the field to show the younger guys what's going on," Mason said. "It's good to start region play off strong to try and get prepared for a big game next week."
Desert Hills will host the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs (2-2) next, and Pine View will visit the Hurricane Tigers (1-3).
