MIDVALE, UT-On Friday, Oct 3, The Hillcrest Huskies took on the Cyprus Pirates in what turned out to be one of the most memorable games of the season. The Huskies came out strong, leading 28-7 at halftime before the game was delayed due to lighting.
With storms continuing through the night, the matchup was postponed and resumed on Monday, Oct 6, but the results was worth the wait for the Huskies.
When play picked back up, Hillcrest didn’t miss a beat. The Huskies dominated the rest of the game, securing a 42-20 victory over Cyprus. The win showed the team’s resilience, even after an unexpected weather break that could have thrown off their rhythm.
Hillcrest’s offense looked sharp from start to finish, while the defense kept pressure on Cyprus throughout the game. The Huskies’ energy and teamwork proved that they’re hitting their stride at just the right time in the season.
When asked about the performance of the team, Head Coach Robert Kaelin said “I though they played great. Our first half, we excellent offensively. I thought our defense held strong the entire game. And then we had to come back on Monday and play the second half. And we came out a little sluggish, but overall pretty much performed very well. We had over 450 total yards on offense, scored 42 points, and our defense held to two scores. So I feel really good about their performance.”
K’Von Houston, the team’s quarterback, threw for 5 touchdown passes and 349 yards.
Hillcrest now has a clear path to the playoffs. They need to win one game to make the playoffs, but can end their season with their best record over the last several seasons by winning out. Senior lineman Cyrus Nielsen spoke on the team’s mindset, saying, “A lot of times we will be like beat this team, beat that team, and we kind of switched our mindset to more of a winning mindset. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. We just come in there to win”.
Coach Kaelin is looking forward to success, saying, “I’m very confident. I mean, we’ve shown, throughout the entire season, that there’s not really any team that can consistently stop our offense. And when our defense is playing all together and communicating, we’re very difficult to move the ball and score on. So i’m very confident in winning these last two games and making the playoffs and surprising some people in the playoff race as well”.