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Salem Hills captains (from left) Maddox Haskell, Jaggar Archuleta, Ty McBride and Cash Hollingshead stand together at the coin flip before the start of a high school football game against Desert Hills on Friday, August 28, 2026.

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

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Salem Hills (left) lines up for an offensive play against Desert Hills in a high school football game on Friday, August 28, 2026.

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

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Miss Salem Kallie Christensen plays the national anthem before the start of the Desert Hills vs. Salem Hills high school football game on Friday, August 28, 2026.

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

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The Salem Hills football team takes the field before a game against Desert Hills on Friday, August 28, 2026.

Brian E. Preece, Special to the Herald

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It was a strange night but ultimately a good night for the Salem Hills football team Friday as the Skyhawks rallied past Desert Hills 14-12 in a game that saw two lightning delays and didn’t end until 11:20 p.m.

“With all the adversity, this was a big win for us,” Salem Hills head coach Jeff Higginson said. “To finally be able to close the door after being down two touchdowns and come back, I’m so proud of the guys for finishing and mentally finishing.”

If one wonders what happens during a lightning delay which at the minimum is 30 minutes but can be much longer until the field is deemed safe, there isn’t necessarily a lot of rah-rah speeches, at least by the coaches.

“The guys lay down and take some time mentally then I tried to get in there with about eight minutes to go (before play is set to resume),” said Higginson. “I’m so exhausted from that. I think coaches just try to keep the mental part of that game going. But with simple stuff.”

One player worked to get his Skyhawk team charged up and that was Reggie Smith, who had a big second half and caught the go-ahead touchdown pass of 13 years from Cash Hollingshead.

“For me, bro, going into the locker room I kept it hyped the whole time,” Smith said. “I tried to keep the team up the entire game. I wasn’t letting anyone slide. We came out with that energy because I told them we need to bring it because the other team is going to fall over and they did.”

Desert Hills built up a 12-0 lead, scoring its first touchdown on a 6-yard run by Seth Brown. On the point after, Salem Hills jumped offside and the Thunder coaching staff decided to go for two points from the one-and-a-half yard line. But the Skyhawk defense stiffened and denied Desert Hills. This was the last play before the first lightning delay with just over five minutes left in the first half.

This missed conversion proved big and point wise decided the outcome of the game because when Desert Hills tacked on another touchdown via a 6-yard scoring reception by Brady Christensen from quarterback Deacon Virgin, it went for two points again and were denied again.

“I tell you what, you can’t say enough about how our defense played tonight,” said Coach Higginson. “Coach (Derek) Campbell and that defensive staff, what they did all game long and make that work. To get a pick (by Joe Hughes) on the goal line, then stop that two-point conversion, that was a big thing.”

The offense came alive toward the end of the third quarter. Hollingshead found Smith on a 35-yard pass play where Smith got some big-time YAC or yards after the catch. Then Hollingshead connected with Peyton Higginson in the back of the end zone for a score of 11 yards. Jack Nelson was true on the first of two successful extra points.

Salem Hills’ defense really shined if you consider that Thunder quarterback Deacon Virgin passed for 339 yards the previous week in a 29-13 win over Timpanogos. But in this contest Virgin was held to 81 yards passing, going just 10-for-26 with one touchdown and two picks, the one by Hughes then another one by Gordon Wilson.

Peyton Higginson had a very active game defensively from his free safety position with nine solo tackles and another four assisted tackles while two of those tackles were for loss. Maddox Haskell added 12 tackles from his middle linebacking position plus a quarterback hurry. And defensive lineman Warren Miller registered a sack.

Salem Hills did offensively dominate the game but did struggle to convert yardage into touchdowns until the latter parts of the game.

Hollingshead passed for 249 yards and had another 76 yards on the ground on 13 carries, including some critical yardage in the final stanza that helped the Skyhawks run out the clock.

Salem Hills (2-1) hosts Provo (0-3) next week to open up 4A Region 8 play. The game will be played Thursday and and includes a special tribute to veterans before the contest with Utah’s junior senator John Curtis expected to attend. Meanwhile, Desert Hills (2-1) makes another visit to Utah County to take on Spanish Fork (2-1) with that game on Friday. Both contests are slated to start at 7 p.m.

SALEM HILLS 14, DESERT HILLS 12

Desert Hills 0 6 6 0 — 12

Salem Hills 0 0 7 7 — 14

DH-Brown 6 run (run failed)

DH-Christensen 6 pass from Virgin (pass failed)

SH-Higginson 11 pass from Hollingshead (Nelson kick)

SH-Smith 13 pass from Hollingshead (Nelson kick)