4A state football: Desert Hills gets ready for Crimson Cliffs, players and coaches bonded by family, history

ST. GEORGE — It is factually correct to say that Friday night’s 4A state championship football game will be a backyard brawl.

Desert Hills coach Rick Berry gives signals at practice before Friday’s 4A state football championship game, St. George, Utah, Nov. 7, 2022 | Photo by E. George Goold, St. George News

That phrase is used in the NCAA ranks – the traditional battle between the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University is called the Backyard Brawl because the schools are 75 miles apart. But in St. George, Utah students at Crimson Cliffs and Desert Hills High Schools literally share the same backyards.

Back when Crimson Cliffs opened its doors in Washington Fields in 2019, most of its students were drawn from Desert Hills.

Family ties between the two schools remain tight and when the Thunder and Mustangs battle for the state title at Greater Zion Stadium it will be about more than local bragging rights.

“It’s like brother playing against your brother,” Desert Hills coach Rick Berry told St. George News after practice Monday night. 

“You go out in the backyard, you’re playing three-on-three hoops or one-on-one or whatever,” he added. “And it’s like, ‘Dude, that’s my brother and I want to win.’”

Berry’s coaching tree has deep roots growing through Friday night’s game.

Berry was coaching the defense at Dixie High School at the time Crimson opened. His defensive line assistant coach then was Wayne Alofipo, who went on to Crimson to coach the Mustangs defense and assumed the head coaching duties this year.

Berry left Dixie and is in his second season leading the Thunder.

Both defensive-minded coaches will be on opposite sidelines, this time with the state championship on the line.

“We’re very familiar with each other,” Berry said about Alofipo. 

Alofipo’s defensive scheme, the 3-4 (three down linemen, four linebackers), is very different from Berry’s basic 4-3 (four down linemen, three linebackers).

The Mustangs run the 3-4 so well by disguising where the pressure is going to come from on each play.

“We just got to do a good job up front,” Berry said. “I mean, they bring pressure from different places. Sometimes they bring it outside, sometimes they bring it in. We’ve just got to do a good job of making sure we know where they’re coming from and pick that up.”

Berry said that at this point in the season, with two teams remaining, the key is just to make lasting memories. 

“Every year is so different,” Berry said. “We’re just going to enjoy the moment. We’re happy to be there and we’re going to go out there and leave it on the field.” 

From Hawaii to St. George

Kona Crowell knows all about the rivalry between Desert Hills and Crimson Cliffs – he’s played for both teams.

Desert Hills senior Kona Crowell (right) breaks up a pass 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

Crowell played last year, his junior season, at Crimson Cliffs. This year, the senior is wearing a Thunder uniform.

Both Desert Hills and Crimson Cliffs football programs benefit from the rapid growth in south St. George. With the schools so close to each other, players changing teams is not uncommon.

Crowell came over to Desert Hills from Crimson along with his friend Keala Loo, a sophomore defensive lineman for the Thunder.

“He’s one of my family friends, I came up here because of his family,” Crowell said.

When he was a Mustang, Crowell was a running back. Since coming to the Thunder he moved to defense, where is a playmaker and punishing hitter.

“The team needed me. What’s best for the team, trying to win it all,” Crowell said. “If linebacker’s where I gotta play, that’s where I’ll play. No complaints there.”

Crowell and Loo played together since they lived in Hawaii and the move to St. George was a big change on the gridiron. 

“It’s a big difference,” Crowell said. “Different gameplay, different style of how they coach. Major difference in the players and how they act.” 

All of the talk before the game about backyard rivalries won’t mean much once the ball is kicked off at 7 p.m. Friday night.

“It’s just another game. I just got to play my heart out,” Crowell said. “They’re my friends, but it’s football. At the end of the day you just got to play.”

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

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