Desert Mountain defeated Ironwood Ridge 14-10 Friday in the first round of the 5A-II state high school playoffs in Scottsdale on a titanic effort from their defense and a last minute offensive touchdown.

With just over 22 seconds left in the game, Wolves quarterback Drew Seaman capped off an 80- yard, five-minute drive, with a 1-yard sneak for a the game-winning touchdown.  He scored both Desert Mountain touchdowns, each on a 1-yard sneak.

While the Wolves’ offense barely had a pulse in the first half, the Desert Mountain defense played with a furious tenacity and bought the offense enough time to get its act together to overcome a 10-0 deficit with two late touchdowns.

Although the Wolves’ offense managed 141 yards on the final two drives of the game, it only managed 69 yards the rest of the game and relied entirely upon the defense to keep the team in the contest.

The Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks drove nearly 80 yards on the opening drive of the game all the way to the 2.  However, the Wolves were able to hold the Nighthawks on a fourth and inches.

The Wolves immediately went three and out, and Kyle Tokasey booted a thundering 49 yard punt to the Nighthawks.  Tokasey’s punting was a huge help to the Wolves. He punted five times with a 41.6 yard net average.

Ironwood Ridge then drove 55 yards to the Wolves 1 yard line but again, the Wolves were able to hold tough on a fourth and inches.

Quarterback Tyler D’Amore and the Nighthawks’ offense compiled 114 yards to the Wolves’ 9 yards in the first quarter, yet the Wolves’ defense would not break and allow any points.

The  Desert Mountain defense continued its relentless play when Tokasey picked off a D’Amore pass ending what looked to be a prospective third long drive by the Nighthawks.

Desert Mountain went three and out again and was forced to punt for a third straight time.

The Nighthawks immediately drove down the field 65 yards, but was again stopped 3 straight times after getting a first and goal from the Desert Mountain 5.

This time however, the Nighthawks coaching staff played it safe and settled for a short field goal by Ben Ambrosio that put the Nighthawks up 3-0 with just under two minutes left in the first half.

The next Desert Mountain drive ended on another booming Tokasey punt.  But on the subsequent Nighthawk play, Tokasey picked off a D’Amore pass for the second time of the game with only 1:10 left in the half.

The Tokasey interception energized the Wolves’ offense that then drove 27 yards in under a minute setting up a long field goal opportunity for Matt Foley.  Foley missed the 42 yard attempt wide and his team went into halftime trailing the Nighthawks 3-0.

The Desert Mountain offense got the ball at the half and was forced to punt for the fifth time in only six possessions.

The score remained 3-0 until, with about four minutes left in the third quarter, Mitch Fischer finally broke the Wolves’ defensive wall when he sprung a 40 yard run for a touchdown to put Ironwood Ridge ahead 10-0.

Desert Mountain drove 61 yards on 10 plays for its first touchdown, cutting the Nighthawk lead to three.

The Wolves’ defense remained stingy on the next Nighthawk possession, when for the third time, it forced a turnover on downs setting the scene for the game-winning Wolves’ drive.

With just over 10 seconds left in the game, D’Amore threw up a prayer for the Nighthawks that was picked off, for the third time, by Tokasey.