In a game that looked like it would go down to the wire, the Desert Edge and Deer Valley football matchup was actually a tale of two halves.

The Desert Edge Scorpions pulled off a 28-14 win against the Deer Valley Skyhawks in the Class 5A Desert West Region matchup.

The game seemed as if either team could win until the third quarter, where Desert Edge (7-2, 4-0 region) shut down Desert Valley (4-5, 2-2), allowing the Skyhawks only nine plays and holding them to one yard.

“I think we wore down a little bit,” Deer Valley coach Eric Bolus said. “They’re quite a bit bigger than we were.”

On the other hand, Desert Edge was red-hot coming out of the half.

“Our coaches did a good job at halftime going and making some adjustments,” Desert Edge coach Jose Lucero said. “We knew if we could cover every gap our kids can play well and make some stops and they stepped up big time.”

The first touchdown of the second half was sparked by a penalty. The Scorpions had picked up a first down and kept the possession alive by drawing Desert Valley offside on a fourth down. The drive eventually led to a 5-yard touchdown from the Scorpions’ running back Rocky Perez.

Perez had a big night as he ran for 253 yards and two touchdowns.

“I’m willing to step into my role,” Perez said. “Whatever they want me to do, carry it five times, 25 (times), just trying to get the win.”

The Scorpions kept momentum up as Treyvon Williams intercepted a Skyhawk pass. Perez then led a drive down the field 50 yards, getting every single yard, and icing in the game with an 8-yard touchdown, his second touchdown of the game.

“At the end of the day when it came down to it, I felt like Rocky was the guy I wanted to take us home,” Lucero said. “So in the second half when it was crunch time I kind of fed the rock, so to speak.”

In the first half, Desert Edge and Deer Valley were neck to neck at 14-14 going into halftime.

On Desert Edge’s second possession, the Scorpions put up the first points of the game with a 48-yard rushing touchdown from Kayden Kraus.

The Skyhawks answered back immediately on their next possession, as the teams kept going back and forth.

Deer Valley looked as if it might take the momentum when running back Dez Melton scored his second touchdown from 20 yards with only one minute left before halftime.

“We did some great things in the first half, and I’m proud of the kids’ fight,” Bolus said.

Deer Valley will look to bounce back from this loss as the Skyhawks take on the Goldwater Bulldogs at Goldwater High Cchool at 7 p.m. Friday.

Desert Edge hopes to stay undefeated in the region when it plays against the Verrado Vipers at Verrado High School at 7 p.m. Friday. The winner of the game will win the Desert West Region championship.