Pound, pound,  pound. That was Desert Vista's desire in its bid to knock off Basha and earn a spot in the Division I football final Friday night at Mesquite High School.

With solid play from its offensive line and four backs rushing for at least 80 yards each, the No. 3 Thunder defeated No. 7 Basha, 42-32, for its first title berth since 2007.

Desert Vista (12-1) tries to dethrone three-time defending champ Hamilton on Nov. 26 at University of Phoenix Stadium. Hamilton advanced with a 31-21 win over Desert Ridge. Basha, making a strong playoff run after struggling late in the regu;lar season, finished 9-4.

Desert Vista controlled the game on offense where it produced five scoring drives of 80 yards or more and piled up 503 yards of offense -- 384 on the ground. With a 21-10 lead late in the first half and in position to score again in Basha territory, the Bears came up with one defensive play that threatened the outcome and slightly changed the momentum. A 68-yard interception return by Basha cornerback Quinten Del Re brought Basha within 21-17 with one minute left in the half.

Deser Vista botched an opportunity to score after recovering a muffed punt with 20 seconds left and went to intermission with the four-point lead.

"We didn't make any adjustments at halftime," Desert Vista coach Dan Hinds sadid. "We came back out and wanted to keep pounding away. (Quarterback) Hunter (Rodriguez was just trying to make something happen and they got an interception."

Running back-linebacker Mike Arredondo scored thre touchdowns, including a 41-yard jaunt for the game clincher with 2:11 left. Arredondo scored earlier on a pair of 1-yard runs.

Arredondo carried 10 times for 82 yards, unofficially and teammates Jarek Hilgers (9-131), Dominic Kereluk (12-80) and Kalbe Germinaro (4-94) were just as productive. Hilgers scored twice  setting up two scores with long runs and tallying twice himself.

"When we knew the game plan we were psyched," Arredondo said. "Our line loves to block and running is what we live to do We were a three-headed monster earlier. Now we're a four-headed monster."

Basha quarterback Kyle Duran ran for two TDs and passed for a third late in the game to pace the Bears offense, which wasn't oo bad. Basha totatd 324 yards almost equally rush and pass.

"They whipped us up front," Basha coach Bernie Busken said. "We made some strides this year. We have a lot of kids coming back next year, and we'll work hard to keep getting better."