It was a defensive battle for the first three quarters, but the Highland Hawks were able to prevail in double overtime against the Desert Vista Thunder, winning 24-21.

The setup for overtime play came from a game-tying touchdown by junior wide receiver Noah Burdick.

“I was a little bit worried," Burdick said. "I didn’t really see the play much. (The quarterback) wasn’t looking at me; I caught the ball and I just figured I had to get in to tie the game."

This down-to-the-wire victory for the Hawks came after a long first quarter where Highland ate up more than half of the time of possession.

After losing two games in a row, a blowout loss to Perry and a nail-biter to Mountain Pointe, the Hawks appeared to come back with what seemed like a different strategy for this contest. Primarily a run-first team, the Hawks seemed to evolve to involve more passing.

“In practice every day we got a good look from our scout defense and I really give the credit all to them because without the look I don’t think that we would’ve been able to know what would’ve been open in the game,” junior quarterback Kaleb Herbert said. "I made my reads and I made my throws so at the end of the day it all goes back to play-calling and our scout D and how hard we go in practice every day.”

Coach Brock Farrel said that the strategy for passing during this game also came from the situation of the game.

“Desperation, that’s the strategy. We were down 14 (points) with 5 (minutes) to go. I mean, we didn’t have a choice. We had to throw and it worked out because all that work you put in during the summer and all the 7 on 7 finally paid off,” Farrel said.

The turning point of the game came after the Hawks tallied their first score with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter. This was followed up by an interception by junior Kohner Cullimore with 2:02 left in regulation.

This game marked the return of Cullimore after missing a game due to an ankle injury.

The first play of overtime saw a Tanner Lunt touchdown that gave Highland the lead for a short time.

“We’ve been practicing that play all week. The DBs lined up inside of me and I was running a corner so it was perfectly set up and I just leaned into him, took one step inside and then cut out and it was just a perfect throw,” Lunt said.

The entire game came down to kicker Austin McNamara’s leg after Desert Vista tied the game 21-21.

“I knew that I’ve been in this situation before and it was just kind of muscle memory and I know that I’ve kicked a game winner before last season. Just to be calm and breathe really helps me and just kick it,” McNamara said.