Alta quarterback Jordan Brown has earned the headlines in several of Alta's victories this season. It's about time everyone learned the reason for his success.
Brown threw for 424 yards and three touchdowns Friday as the Hawks avoided its "quarterfinal jinx" by beating Cottonwood, 37-13.
Alta will play Bingham in one 5A semifinal next Friday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Cottonwood, which lost to Alta 59-20 in the season opener, finished its season with an 8-4 record.
Brown was amazing — again. He completed 19-of-24 passes, including 16 in a row at one point. But even Brown would agree it's the receivers that make the difference.
Zach Liston had eight catches for 173 yards, Skyler Mayne caught eight passes for 86 yards and Tyron Morris grabbed three for 166 yards. Fact is, Brown is a threat when he has the ball. The rest of the time, it's the receivers who are doing the job.
Alta coach Les Hamilton said Cottonwood had the momentum in the first quarter, which ended in a 3-3 tie. Hamilton admitted he was frustrated at that point.
"They (Cottonwood) had a great game plan," he said. "I just gave the ball to Jordy Brown and he has three great receivers, and we just pulled away in the second half."
After a first quarter in which the Hawks managed almost no offense, they got going. Alta earned its initial first down midway through the second quarter on a nice run by Bryan Finnerty. On the next play, Brown connected with Tyron Morris on a 67-yard scoring pass.
The Hawks led 16-6 at halftime, but really broke the game open in the third quarter.
Alta took the kickoff, but Brown was sacked on the first play. He then hit Zach Liston, who broke a couple of tackles to get a first down. On the third play, Brown found Morris open on a broken play and it resulted in a 70-yard touchdown pass.
"I went to the wrong side," Brown said. "I made a move and he (Morris) was wide open and it turned out well for us."
Cottonwood took the ensuing kickoff, but its 14-play drive ended on a missed field goal. Brown quickly found Liston on a 66-yard play. A few plays later, Mayne scored on a "wildcat formation" play to give Alta a 30-6 lead.
At that point, the game wasn't in doubt. But after another failed Cottonwood drive, Brown moved the Hawks 57 yards on six plays and hit Mayne on a 21-yard scoring pass to put the game away.
Cottonwood's offense was limited to three players — Tim Glenn, Crosby Jensen and Nadan Hosea. Jensen threw for 188 yards, but was never able to connect on a big play, despite many tries. Glenn caught eight passes for 103 yards. Hosea was Cottonwood's only real running threat, and he was not a factor after the opening drive.
"We had everything we wanted," said Cottonwood coach Cecil Thomas. "The guys up front played very well. You've got to have playmakers. They have playmakers and they made plays."