Cyrus Polu leads Desert Hills to romp over Mountain Crest, sets up all-Region 10 game for 4A state crown

Written by E. George Goold
November 6, 2022

CEDAR CITY — Desert Hills dominated the second half and got a breakout performance from sophomore Cyrus Polu as the Thunder beat Mountain Crest convincingly 44-14 Saturday night in Cedar City.

Desert Hills beats Mountain Crest in a 4A state football semifinal game, Cedar City, Utah, Nov. 5, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

The victory in the 4A state football semifinals sets up an all-Region 10 state championship game as the Thunder advanced to face Crimson Cliffs for the title next weekend.

Region 11’s Mountain Crest, coming off a 28-21 upset over Dixie last week, played a physical game and took a 14-10 lead at halftime.

Desert Hills coach Rick Berry told St. George News after the game that the Thunder did not meet the physical test Mountain Crest offered with its big offensive line and punishing ground game in the first half.

“We just didn’t execute the things we practiced all week,” Berry said. “We didn’t execute in the red zone. We gave up too many things on the defensive line.”

The Mustangs jumped ahead when Casey Crofts threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Will DeKorver.

Early in the second quarter Desert Hills answered with a 1-yard touchdown run by Beau Wall and a 28-yard field goal by Xander Jones that put the Thunder ahead 10-7.

But the Mustangs scored again, a 14-yard run by Carson Olsen, and led by four points going into halftime.

The game turned early in the third quarter when Polu snagged the first of his back-to-back interceptions and took it to the house for a 33-yard score.

His second pick set up Tyden Morris for a 3-yard touchdown run and Desert Hills would never look back, going ahead 23-14.

It looked like Mountain Crest called the exact same pass play on both of Polu’s consecutive picks.

“I don’t even know. I just caught the ball and I just ran,” Polu said. “Our game plan was to go into the second half and work as hard as we can. We were down and we just played the best that we could.”

Wall barreled into the end zone for a 5-yard score as Desert Hills piled it on.

Desert Hills defenders make a play against Mountain Crest in a 4A state semifinal football game, Cedar City, Utah, Nov. 5, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

“We call that our big package,” Berry said, describing Wall’s two touchdown runs in the contest. “We bring a couple of big guys in and let him follow them. It’s something we’ve worked on a little bit.”

Polu continued his stellar night with a 6-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, Polu is as versatile as he is talented. He can score on offense, on defense and he’s also returned kicks during the season.

“I don’t believe it’s a breakout game for him,” Berry said. “Every week Cyrus just gets better and better. He came out and made some big plays and turned the momentum and changed the whole game around for us.”

Morris provided the final scoring margin in the contest with his second touchdown, this one a 1-yarder with 1:05 remaining.

Desert Hills earned a rematch with backyard rival Crimson Cliffs, this time for the state championship. The Mustangs won the matchup earlier this year, 21-14, at Desert Hills.

The championship game has been scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11 at Utah Tech University.

“That’s gonna be a tough game,” Berry said. “They’ve had a great season. They know us, we know them. Grateful it’s both teams from our region and it’s gonna be a lot of fun.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric George Goold came to St. George News from southwestern Colorado, where he was a radio news reporter. He has been a journalist for over 20 years in five different states. He graduated with a master's degree in English from Kansas State University and writes nonfiction as well. Goold has been published in Sunstone Magazine and has done multiple public readings about local history. When he has free time, he enjoys chess, movies and dogs.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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