Andrew Lwowski is a Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Vista High School for AZPreps365.com.

CHANDLER — The Desert Vista Thunder, playing without three key playmakers on offense, traveled to Chandler to take on the Hamilton Huskies on Friday night. The Huskies defense suffocated the Thunder's stunted offense as they cruised to a 63-17 victory.

The number-one ranked 6A team in Arizona, Hamilton (7-0), had no problem handling Desert Vista (2-4), who were without receivers Michael Allison and Mekhi Hibbler and running back Devon Grubbs, all due to injury. Those three weapons have amassed 880 all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns in the combined games they have played this season. Faced with adversity, head coach Ty Wisdom played quarterback carousel in an attempt to find an offensive rhythm. The Thunder quarterback rotation was comprised of senior transfer Xavier Castillo, junior Jackson Akins and sophomore Braxton Thomas.

“Hamilton, they want to take away the run, load the box,” Wisdom said. “We wanted to see if we could do some things. They did a great job with that. We had way too many mental errors to compete with a team like that. I thought our team competed in the first half even with those mental errors. It was 28-3 at half. Without our mental errors it probably should have been 21-14.”

Desert Vista athletic director David Klecka, who watched the one-sided game from the sidelines, said the Husky defense was “relentless” as he shook his head in awe. “You don’t realize how big these guys are until you’re on the field with them,” said Klecka. Hamilton's size and speed left no doubt as to why they are the top-ranked team in the Grand Canyon State.

The Thunder capitalized with a field goal off a Husky fumble early in the first quarter, but it was all Huskies for the remaining 45 minutes of the 48-minute contest. Hamilton quarterback Nicco Marchiol and receiver Christian Anaya trounced the Thunder defense. Marchiol was responsible for six of the nine Husky touchdowns while recording a season-high 356 passing yards. He connected with three different receivers for touchdowns, including three touchdowns to Anaya alone.

The Thunder played four different quarterbacks on Friday night, with three of them attempting a pass. “Moving forward we’re not going to be a three-quarterback system,” Wisdom said. “We’re going to play the best guy, but we got to learn to take care of the football and little things that are going to help us win our last four games.”

Castillo, who transferred from Chandler High School in June, played in his first game since his sophomore season. “It was a tough game, tough game to return to against Hamilton,” Castillo said. “I’m pushing through it, I have these next couple weeks -- four games left to my season, so I’m just focusing on that now.”

Desert Vista was posed with more problems than it had answers for on Friday night. However, Wisdom said he expects to have all three of his offensive stars back by the end of the season. Their potential return will help the morale of the team. Wisdom is now tasked with restabilizing his team for the final four-game stretch before a possible post-season run.

Desert Vista will host the Higley Knights of Gilbert on Friday Oct. 22 for Desert Vista’s homecoming.