Brighton's potent offense, combining a slashing running game and an occasional touch pass, were too much for Bonneville on opening night as the Bengals beat the Lakers, 24-14.
The Bengal defense did most of the damage early in the game, holding the Lakers to one first down in the entire first half. While the Bonneville offense was having trouble moving the ball, Brighton looked like a team in mid-season form.Quarterback Michael Kent struck first for the home team as he capped a nine-play 69-yard drive with a 23-yard touchdown run. The Lakers bit on a fake option and Kent's run put the Bengals out in front for good.
Bengal fullback Tyson Baker added to the lead early in the second quarter as he bulled his way through traffic, then out-ran the secondary on his way to making the Brighton lead 14-0.
Baker, a returning first team all-region player, took over where he left off last year, when he accumulated over 800 yards. The senior carried for 69 yards in the first half on 11 carries.
The second half saw the Lakers returning to the field ready to fight their way back into the game. The Bengals' Landon Becknell had other ideas, however, as he took the handoff on the first play of the half and did not stop until 80 yards later and the Bengals up 21-0.
The scoring was over for Brighton except for a 39-yard field goal by Chris Vlam, who was also perfect on all extra point attempts.
The Lakers then took over and scored twice but figured the Bengal defense out too late. The first score came after Marty Reynolds recovered a fumbled punt on the Bengal nine. The next play saw Tyler Gladwell connect with Kevin Cottle for a touchdown and a 24-7 score. Gladwell hooked up with J.D. Spendlove on a 17-yard touchdown pass to end the scoring as time was running down.
"I was pleased with the way we played," said Brighton coach Lynn Freestone. "They made adjustments late in the game, but we beat a good team and that's always a great thing."