Shortly after Koen Broadley kicked Desert Mountain into the 5A state championship game, Conrad Hamilton was at midfield after Horizon’s desperation lateral drill ended and he was able decline the penalty with authority as he emphatically did the universal sign of not accepting a penalty.

It officially sent the Desert Mountain to its first title game in football in program history.

“It felt good to do that,” Hamilton said. “It was felt really good.”

The 20-17 win over No. 5 Horizon extended a terrific run for the Wolves as No. 9 Desert Mountain has won four playoff games, including three straight road victories over the 2024 state runner-up (Cactus), the 2024 state champion (Desert Edge) and the 2021 state champion (Horizon).

“I can’t be more proud of these guys for that,” Hamilton said. “It’s about seizing the moment. There are high expectations on our program now based on where we are at. Just be process driven and play as hard as you can.”

Desert Mountain (11-3) lost 35-22 to Horizon (10-3) in the regular season finale, but the Wolves brought a physicality in the state semifinals that might have been borne out of the confidence gained after knocking off last year’s 5A finalists.

“We got back on track with that first round win,” sophomore running back Easton Conner said of their 54-6 win over Gilbert. “We built up from there. There were articles that said (Horizon) was more physical than us. We took it personal and came out with an edge and we showed we more physical.”

The game was tied at 17 after Horizon’s Bodie Zamorano scored from 2-yards out with 3:47 left in the game.

Desert Mountain started on its 20-yard line and drive down to Huskies’ 6-yard line before bringing in Broadley.

Horizon called a time out just before his first attempt, that clearly frustrated the junior right-footer. And then came a second timeout, but this time the ball was snapped to give him a practice kick, which he drilled.

With no timeouts left, Broadley, who has played football for three years after a long soccer career, looked to the sky just before the snap and sent it through for the game winner.

“As soon as it left my foot, I knew I drilled it,” said Broadley, who had a game winner on JV last year. “It bought my team four more practices and a chance to win the team’s first state title. It’s everything I’ve dreamed of.”

The opportunity will come on Saturday when Desert Mountain play No. 6 Canyon View on Frank Kush Field at Mountain America Stadium with a 7 p.m. kickoff.

The Wolves earned that opportunity after junior quarterback Grant Garduno and the offense put together the game-winning drive together because the Huskies erased a 10-3 halftime deficit and tied it at 17.

“Do you part of 1/11, do your individual job, and play to the whistle,” Garduno said. “It’s what I kept telling my guys. Beat your man – 1/11 and finish this game. We’ve been in the position before and haven’t always come out on top, but we did this time.

“We wanted our revenge, and we knew our season was on the line, especially for our seniors, and it made us play better and harder.”

In the first meeting, Horizon rushed for 274 yards on the way to a 35-22 win to win the region. This time Desert Mountain controlled the line of scrimmage most of the game. At one point, the Wolves had 27 offensive plays to Horizon’s six to grab a 10-0 lead late into the second quarter.

The Huskies battled back to get a field to end the first half, the defense held up on its first drive of the second half held after a 14-yard punt gave Desert Mountain the ball on the Huskies’ 33.

Horizon forced a turnover on downs and then tied it at 10 on Carter Puma’s 30-yard touchdown pass to junior James Klopfenstien.

Conner scored with 11:10 remaining for a 17-10 lead, and Horizon answered with Zamorano’s score with 3:47 left to set up the game-winning drive by the Wolves.

Horizon beat No. 12 Notre Dame and No. 4 Marana on the way to the semifinals, but were unable to match Desert Mountain’s toughness this time around.

“We always tell our kids it is tough to beat good team twice,” Horizon second-year coach Tyson Ditmore said. “They did a real good job of controlling the ball. We knew they were going to be prepared, and they were well coached tonight. They had the energy, and they controlled the ball. They know we like to run the ball, and they took all of our power away from us.”

The Desert Mountain defense was led by Kaika Solomon, who had sack and several tackles for a loss when the Horizon ran the Wildcat offense, Jeneral Solomon and Christopher McComber.

It’s no surprise the Wolves relied on its defense considering the mentality and history of Hamilton’s coaching career. He was a defensive coordinator and defensive head coach at Chaparral and Mountain Pointe before taking over the Desert Mountain program prior to the 2019 season.

Now, the Wolves head into the 5A title game for the first time needing one more win for a championship.

“We were the better team all night,” Hamilton said. “It was complimentary football. All phases of our team played well when we needed them to. People counted us out.

“We play good defense. We are going to challenge everyone from that standpoint. Cactus was the signature win. Desert Edge was one of those games where our guys wanted a shot at the best – and now we have a shot to be the best.”