Grace Del Pizzo is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com. 

Historically speaking, Desert Mountain High School’s football program hasn’t been excellent. The school was founded in 1995, and since at least 2004, it hadn’t won 10 games in a season or even finished first in its section.

That is, until 2021.

In the 2021 season, the Desert Mountain Wolves went 12-2, which was good for a first-place finish in the 5A Northeast Valley section and also earned them a berth in the 2021 Arizona Interscholastic Association 5A State Championship tournament. As a No. 4 seed, the Wolves fought their way to a 17-7 win over No. 13 Ironwood Ridge and a 17-8 win over No. 5 Sunrise Mountain before ultimately falling 28-24 to No. 1 Horizon, the eventual state champion.

The true mastermind behind Desert Mountain’s sudden success is head coach Conrad Hamilton. Hamilton, a six-year NFL veteran, was hired as Desert Mountain’s head coach in 2019. Since then, the direction of the program has turned around at a truly stunning pace. Under Hamilton’s watch, the Wolves’ win total has increased from three in 2019, to four in 2020 – in a COVID-shortened season – to 12 in 2021.

A few key seniors from last year went on to play football in college, such as starting OL Matt Katergaris, who now plays at Arizona State University. However, the core of Desert Mountain’s 2021 state semifinalist team remains in place.

2021’s deep playoff run was spearheaded by quarterback Drew Tapley and his brother, 6 foot, 4 inch wide receiver/safety hybrid Dylan Tapley, both of whom returned to Desert Mountain in 2022.

Drew and Dylan received an honorable mention and first-team honors, respectively, on the 2021 5A All Conference team. Dylan played the most snaps of any Desert Mountain player in 2021 and is continuing to turn heads in 2022.

The defensive line is anchored by three-star tight end/defensive end Dillon Hipp and defensive end Nolan Clement. Hipp, a junior, is ranked the #1 tight end in Arizona, and Clement, a senior, totaled 10 sacks in 2021.

Even newcomers are contributing to the team, namely Tony Cumberland. The 6-foot-5 15-year-old is flourishing under Clement’s wing, having already amassed 2.5 sacks and 19 tackles in just six games.

Desert Mountain has been putting surrounding Arizona high schools on notice, but they’re not the only ones who are watching the Wolves. College scouts are also taking notice of Desert Mountain’s wealth of talent.

Dillon Hipp has 14 Division I offers, including from Power 5 schools such as Iowa State, Oregon, Washington State, Baylor, Arizona, Tennessee, Arizona State, Kansas, Purdue, Washington, and Duke.

Dylan Tapley has seven Division I offers, including from Power 5 schools such as Kansas, Arizona State, Iowa State, Oregon, and Arizona.

Freshman Cumberland recently received his first two Division I offers from Oregon and Arizona State, both Power 5 schools.

Additionally, Clement has eight Division I offers.

Six weeks into the 2022 season, the Wolves are sitting pretty at 5-1. Their only loss came this past week to Notre Dame Prep, a 20-17 home loss in triple overtime. Desert Mountain’s point differential through six weeks is a whopping +108. Their resume includes blowout wins over Cactus & Camelback (both 5A) and Arcadia (4A) and close victories over Mountain View and rival Chaparral (both 6A).

Two weeks ago, the Wolves were ranked No. 7 in the AIA Open Division rankings. 

Desert Mountain’s upcoming schedule includes games against 5A schools Skyline (5-0) and Gilbert (4-2) Oct. 21 and 28, respectively. These matchups will continue to test Desert Mountain’s strength and resilience as it aims to avenge its loss in last year's playoffs by earning the team’s first Open playoffs berth.