Deer Valley edges Thunderbird to remain on right side of 4A playoff bubble
- Mason Byers
- Oct 28
- 3 min read
The Deer Valley Skyhawks took home a 7-3 win over the Thundebird Titans in a crucial game for both teams.
Deer Valley was ranked 16 and Thunderbird was ranked 15 in the 4A conference going into the game. With both teams only having two more regular-season games to go, every win matters.
The game started great for the Skyhawks.
On just the second play of the game, their defense came up with an interception. It was sophomore linebacker Kaycee Brenden who made the play for Deer Valley.
They weren’t able to turn the turnover into points, however.
After the drive stalled, they attempted a field goal, but the attempt was blocked by Thunderbird.
Later in the first quarter, Deer Valley got the ball back with great field position.
This time around, they made sure to capitalize on the offensive side as junior quarterback Allison Morris connected with freshman running back Bella Jones for a 15-yard touchdown.
Doing a little bit of everything for her team against Thunderbird, Morris is making sure her team can keep stacking wins.
“We started off strong, then we went on a losing streak,” Morris said. “We won the last two games, so hopefully we can keep riding the high from here.”
Needing an injection of life in them, Thunderbirds' defense capped off the first quarter with a turnover.
The last play of the first quarter, Thunderbirds senior defensive back Dulce Castro snagged an interception.
Getting an opportunity to put points up on the board, Thunderbird was able to put together its best drive of the game after the interception.
Senior quarterback Brianna Nystuen connected with freshman wide receiver Madisyn Fosu and sophomore center Sarah Roberts on the drive to set Thunderbird up in field goal range.
Junior kicker Grace Hornburg hit a 31-yard field goal to give Thunderbird their first points of the game.
Towards the end of the second quarter, Deer Valley came away with another turnover.
This time, it was senior defensive back Deja Ayers who got the interception for the Skyhawks.
Deer Valley head coach Jesse Monsisvais is never in doubt whether or not his defense is going to play good.
“Defense always shows up, they always play tough,” Monsisvais said. “We got some great rushers, the corners play really well, the safeties really try not to let anything behind them.”
After the interception, they were out of timeouts for the half, and with under a minute to go, they could not get down the field in time to put up any more points before halftime.
Not much happened in the third quarter until the halfway point, when Thunderbird made another big defensive play.
The Titans caused another turnover as freshman defensive back Aubree Furbacher tipped the ball to herself to get the interception.
Once again, though, the Titans' offense was not able to get points on the board after another stop by Deer Valley.
Both teams couldn’t move the ball much due to both defenses playing elite.
However, with two minutes left in the game, Thunderbird had a chance to put together a game-winning drive.
It looked promising as they moved the ball down the field fast; however, Deer Valley wasn’t going to go back home with a loss.
Making the biggest play of the game was Deer Valley’s junior defensive back Chloe Utter, who snagged a game-sealing interception.
Utter knew she had to make the play.
“In my head I was like if I miss this ball, they’re going to get a touchdown,” Utter said. “I felt pretty calm. It was such a relief when I did it.”
Deer Valley now moves to 7-3 on the season, and with two regular-season games remaining, they are going to just take it one game at a time.
“Definitely gotta clean up some stuff on offense, watch some film, see what’s working, what’s not working,” Monsisvais said. “We’ll take it a game at a time and see it as far as we can go.”
Comments