Gridiron Weekly (Week 4): Desert Mountain 44 Cactus 0

It's understandable. After all, the Wolves lost six Division I players from its 9-2 squad to graduation plus Tony Cumberland, a four-star junior defensive tackle who moved to Oregon. There are 15 new starters on Desert Mountain and two-thirds of the roster are underclassmen.

But here the Wolves are, sitting at 4-0 after a 44-0 thrashing of Cactus at home in Scottsdale on Friday night. It was a game that was put away by halftime.

"I can't say enough about where we're at with our program," Desert Mountain head coach Conrad Hamilton said. "I think our guys are overachieving and they're playing for each other."

Desert Mountain, ranked #7 by Arizona Varsity, took advantage of two interceptions on Cactus' first three drives. Picks from Braylon Wilkerson and Elijah Banquil gave the Wolves short fields inside the Cobras' 40-yard line.

The Wolves took advantage with a 45-yard field goal from Alex Weeks and crossed paydirt on a third-and-goal play from the 3-yard line. Senior quarterback Bryce Herges faked a handoff to the running back up the middle, then ran right and went in untouched for a 10-0 lead.

The Wolves held Cactus to just six yards of offense in the 10 plays that the Cobras ran in the first quarter.

Herges, who is in his first year as the starting quarterback for the Wolves after sitting behind Brady McDonough (now at the Naval Academy), is making the most of his chance behind center. He threw his 10th touchdown pass of the season to senior Michael Sheldrick, who found some open space, avoided a tackle and backpedaled his way into the end zone.

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"We started off slow on offense," Herges said. "But the defense got us the ball back in short-yardage situations."

Herges wasn't sacked in the game and a part of that appreciation was extended to one of the Wolves' offensive linemen. Because of an injury at right tackle, Grant Underwood found out he was starting just 24 hours before the game. He was ready and Herges was fully protected by the 'next man up'.

Desert Mountain (4-0) extended its lead with a five-play, 52-yard drive that finished with another fake handoff from Herges and a keeper for a short touchdown run.

Special teams were also dominated by the Wolves. Following the touchdown, Cactus fumbled the ensuing kickoff and it was picked up by Tyler Stanford (a starting linebacker) for a scoop and score.

All of a sudden, it was 31-0 and Cactus didn't have a first down in its five possessions (three punts, two interceptions).

The Homecoming firework show continued with another field goal (42 yards) from Weeks before the half.

"We weren't able to move the ball offensively," Cactus head coach Brian Belles said. "It was one thing after another. It was too much for us to overcome in the first half and it snowballed after that."

Herges completed 9-of-13 passes in the first half for 140 yards and had a streak of seven straight completions at one point.

Desert Mountain prides itself as being able to stuff the run. The Wolves did just that as they limited Cactus to just 17 rush yards in the half.

"We're multiple and we're an attacking style of defense," Hamilton, who calls that side of the ball, said. "We want to predicate it off of stopping the run and being aggressive early."

A week ago, DMHS met some adversity offensively in an 18-7 win at Chaparral. Those troubles were worked on and went away.

"This week was a big push to get back on track offensively," Hamilton said. "I think we did that."

The second half was all about the Wolves' defense. Cactus was in the red zone in three of its final four drives, but suffered a fumble (recovered by Hayden Sergi), missed a field goal, and was stopped on a run on third-and-goal from the 3-yard line on the last play of the game.

"It was very important," senior Sean Hart said of the shutout. "It's a physical defense, but it's also a very versatile defense. Our defensive ends play like linebackers. You've got guys flying around. You've got Coach Hamilton with crazy blitzes going."

Hart had one of three sacks for the Wolves.

The victory is all the more impressive because Cactus (2-2) came into the game averaging just over 35 points per contest.

However, the Cobras' top receiver, JuJu Stubblefield, was limited with a shoulder injury. He was cleared by doctors before the game a week after a school-record 16 catches for 224 yards against O'Connor. But, he had just one early catch before being taken out.

Belles was pleased with the effort from his offense in the second half as it was able to get on track, even though it didn't produce any points.

"I'm glad our kids didn't throw up the white flag," Belles said. "I'm proud of them for that."

There was just one touchdown in the second half and it came on a strange play. Cactus was punting from its own five-yard line with the punter standing in the back of the end zone. The ball was partially blocked and went straight up in the air. It landed in the arms of Banquil - in the end zone(!) for a touchdown.

"Special teams wise," Hamilton said. "We're ultra aggressive right now. We're playing our starters on our special teams."

Cactus will host its longtime rival, Peoria, this Friday in Glendale. The Panthers will come in at 1-3 after a second consecutive close loss.

"We have to go back to the basics," Belles said. "It takes three phases to win a game and we didn't come close to winning any of them tonight."

Desert Mountain has one more game before both its bye week and 5A Northeast Valley Region play. It will be on the road in Gilbert against Campo Verde (2-2) this Friday.

"They're an East Valley team, so they're going to play with physicality," Hamilton said. "They play good competition. We've played them the last couple years and they've given us a challenge."

Yes, the meat of the schedule is still upcoming (Cactus Shadows, Horizon, ALA-Gilbert North, Higley, and Notre Dame), but a win like Friday's makes a statement.

"Expectations were low for this team," Hart said. "I'm really excited and happy with how we're playing. We're making an entrance."