Note: Delta finished with a 4-6 overall record in 2018 and was second in 2A North with a 4-1 record. It lost to Beaver 27-8 in the 2A quarterfinals.
Delta 2018 Offensive and Defensive Stats
DELTA — On the first night of Delta’s team camp at Juab High School back in late June, coach Russ Fowles walked away feeling very excited about the upcoming season.
After his players got pushed around a bit against 5A school Timpanogos in its first preseason scrimmage, those undersized players started pushing back and showed grit and fight. Fowles said it was the most enjoyable opening night of team camp in his seven years as head coach.
“That’s going to be the special sauce we’ve got to have if we want to be competitive. We’ve got to play a little hungry, we’ve got to play with some emotion and we have to go out there and have a little fun doing that,” Fowles said. “That makes me excited for the year. It’s a lot easier to coach kids that are excited to go play and play with a little emotion than it is some who are just a little dead even though they might be talented.”
That’s a great sign for Delta as it looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2018 season in which it went 4-6 and lost its first playoff game to Beaver 27-8.
Delta had a tough time competing last year as it was very sophomore and junior heavy, but most of those players are back and that experience is now a strength.
“It’s nice to have a couple classes together that are pretty good classes. When you’re at small schools it’s a numbers game, it really is,” Fowles said.
With some depth within the squad, Delta should be able to spread the workload around to multiple players which should help it compete as it bumps up to 3A and will compete against some bigger schools this year.
Delta Rabbits at a glance
Coach: Russ Fowles is entering his seventh season as head coach at Delta having accumulated a 30-35 record in the previous six years. He’s a graduate of Delta High School.
Fowles' comments on new UHSAA RPI:
“I look at it realistically. It doesn’t matter from what I see because your first couple games you’re going to either be ranked low or ranked high, and you’re going to be playing a high team or a low team. I don’t think that would be much different if it was region play. And after that you’re going to be playing good teams anyway. I don’t see where it’s going to make that much difference. The thing that I don’t want to see happen with the sport is teams wanting to blow out other teams so they can make their numbers look good.”
Delta offensive snapshot
Offensive coordinator: Fowles
2018 offensive production: 20.5 ppg (10th in 2A)
— 8 returning starters
— Triple option offense
Key offensive returning starters
— Brett Bundy (OL)
A great two-way player in the trenches for Delta, he’s one of three returning starters on the offensive line.
— Jayden Petersen (RB)
Led Delta last year with 113 carries as he finished the season with 630 yards and five TDs, and bigger things are expected again this year.
Returning offensive starters
Austin Topham (QB)
Jake Jackson (RB)
Oran Finlinson (RB)
Trey Brough (RB)
Jake Nickle (OL)
Kurtus Nielson (OL)
Bridger Terril (OL) — recovering from knee injury
Brett Bundy (OL)
Offensive newcomers to watch
Britton Smith (WR)
Jayden Goold (WR)
Fowles' comments on returning QB Austin Topham:
“He’s tall, about 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4, and has a year’s experience under his belt. Gives a little bit of vision if we do want to throw the ball. He’s got a lot of the technique down. Timing is so key in our offense that you’ve got to have someone back there with a little experience, and having him back is going to be a big asset for us.”
Fowles' comments on strong returning group of O-lineman:
“We’re going to be quick — we don’t have any great big bruisers like we had a couple years ago. They have experience, and they’re salty, and that’s what we need. With our offense and with doing a lot of misdirection, a lot of quick stuff, these smaller lines we can work with them. All they have to do is attack the right person on the right shoulder and we can hopefully get a seem to sneak a little guy through and hopefully get a few yards and consistently do that.”
Fowles' comments on fullback Jake Jackson:
“He’s a returning starter, also a middle linebacker, state champ wrestler. That’s the kind of kid we want there and the kid we’re going to have. He’s a load, he’s going to be tough to bring down and he’ll carry the load for us. He’s going to be a huge part of our offense and defense.”
Keys for offensive success in 2019:
Even though Delta has most of its starters back from last year, two of the biggest holes to fill are on the offensive line. Delta expected to have four starters back, but Bridger Terril injured his knee back in January and he might not be back until the playoffs. Jake Nickle, Brett Bundy and Kurtus Nielson will be solid, but how quickly the other two lineman gel with the group could be the key to the season as Delta looks to improve on its paltry 20.5 scoring average last year.
Delta defensive snapshot
Defensive coordinator: Jon Winters
2018 defensive production: 31.6 ppg (9th in 2A)
— 8 returning starters
— 4-4 defense
Key defensive returning starters
— Jake Jackson (LB)
A first team all-stater last year, Jackson led Delta with 69 tackles and eight sacks a year ago.
— Oran Finlinson (DL)
A second-team all-state defensive lineman last year, Finlinson returns after recording 36 tackles and five sacks last year.
Returning defensive starters
Oran Finlinson (DL)
Brett Bundy (DL)
Jake Jackson (LB)
Jace Thomas (LB)
Will Finlinson (LB)
Tate Willoughby (LB)
Cade Smith (DB)
Jayden Petersen (DB)
Defensive newcomers to watch
Romeo Hernandez (DL)
Jackson Johnson (DL)
Trey Brough (LB)
Britton Smith (CB)
Fowles' comments on DL:
“We won’t be big and overpowering on the D-line, but hopefully we’ll be quick. Jackson Johnson is one of our smaller kids who plays on the line, but he’s fast.”
Fowles' comments on LB:
“That’s probably where our strength is and some good kids behind them pushing. We should be fairly fast. We really aren’t very big. We’ll be fast, and if we want to be competitive we’ve got to be able to move on the field and play quick.”
Fowles' comments on secondary:
“We’ve got to be able to cover people, that’s what everybody does. I think linebacker we’ll be pretty solid and I think we need the most improvement at DBs. Hopefully we can get a little bit of heat on the quarterback so we don’t have to sit back there and cover anybody for very long.”
Keys for defensive success in 2019:
Delta’s defense allowed 31.6 ppg last year, and improving on that will require some feistiness. Delta is one of the smaller schoolers in the revamped 3A, and with undersized players at many positions it will rely on quickness and grit to slow down teams that might seem like a mismatch on paper.
Bottom line
Buoyed by a great 2018 class, Delta reached the 3A championship game in 2016 and then the 2A semifinals in 2017. Unfortunately for Delta, last year’s senior class was small and as a result it had to play a ton of sophomores and juniors throughout its 4-6 season. That experience could pay dividends this year as Delta’s junior and senior classes are both strong and hungry for a bounceback season.
Coaches preseason Region 14 straw poll: Fifth
Deseret News Region 14 prediction: Third
Key region game: vs. Manti, Sept. 20 (Week 6)
2019 schedule
- Aug. 16 — SAN JUAN, 5:30 p.m.
- Aug. 23 — at Beaver, 7 p.m.
- Aug. 30 — at Millard, 7 p.m.
- Sept. 6 — at Grantsville, 7 p.m.
- Sept. 13 — SOUTH SEVIER, 7 p.m.
- Sept. 20 — MANTI, 7 p.m.
- Sept. 27 — at American Leadership, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 4 — UNION, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 11 — at Juab, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 16 — NORTH SANPETE, 7 p.m.
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Felt’s Facts for Delta High School
All-time record: 545-300-24 (95 years)
Region championships: 30 (1927, 1930 co, 1931, 1932 co, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1947 co, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970 co, 1975, 1976 co, 1977, 1983 co, 1986, 1991 co, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2003 co, 2004 co, 2005 co, 2009 co, 2010, 2011)
Playoff appearances: 56
Current playoff appearance streak: 4 (2015-2018)
All-time playoff record: 66-47
State championships: 9 (1938, 1966, 1968, 1975, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1995, 2001)
State championship record: 9-4
Most played rivalry: 95 meetings with Millard dating back to 1926. Millard leads 50-41-4.
Felt’s Factoid: Delta’s state-record 38 straight playoff appearances came to an end in 2013 as the Rabbits missed the playoffs for the first time since 1974.
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Last five
- 2018 — 4-6 (4-1 in 2A North — 2A quarterfinals)
- 2017 — 8-3 (4-1 in 2A North — 2A semifinals)
- 2016 — 9-4 (4-1 in 3A south — 3A runner-up)
- 2015 — 4-8 (2-3 in 3A South — 3A quarterfinals)
- 2014 — 1-8 (0-5 in 3A South — missed playoffs)
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Delta coaching history
- 2013-current — Russ Fowles (30-35)
- 2005-2012 — Russ Henrie (59-35)
- 1982-2004 — Dean Fowles (161-78)
- 1979-1981 — Clark (21-12)
- 1971-1978 — Bill Brown (65-23)
- 1970 — Jim Porter (7-2)
- 1968-1969 — Brent Rock (20-6)
- 1967 — Myers (5-3)
- 1965-1966 — Jim Porter (24-1)
- 1957-1964 — Robert Horlacher (48-22)
- 1956 — Joe Martinez (3-4)
- 1954-1955 — Jim Durrant (7-9)
- 1950-1953 — Bruce Osborne (16-13)
- 1947-1949 — Nephi Schwab (9-12)
- 1946 — Reginald LeFevere (0-4)
- 1942-1945 — F.G. "Frosty" Richards (9-13)
- 1941 — Mr. Anderson (5-2)
- 1939-1940 — Howard Schaub (10-6)
- 1936-1938 — Jay Tolman (13-5)
- 1931-1935 — Unknown (12-8)
- 1928-1930 — Joe Snow (11-2)
- 1924-1927 — Unknown (9-7)
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Deseret News First Team all-staters the past 10 years
- 2018 — Jake Jackson, LB
- 2018 — Jaymen Brough, DB
- 2017 — Dallin Draper, RB
- 2017 — Jake Day, DB
- 2017 —Brandon Atkinson, LB
- 2017 — Trevor Burton, DL
- 2017 — Chase Fowles, OL
- 2016 — Reygan Riding, FB
- 2016 — Jack Dutson, DE
- 2016 — Brett Walker, DT
- 2016 — Ryland Day, LB
- 2016 — Jason Hatch, S
- 2015 — Russell Styler, OL
- 2015 — Rhett Shamo, LB
- 2014 — David Schena, OL
- 2014 — Victor Almanza, LB
- 2013 — Hunter Fowles, OL
- 2013 — Riley Nielson, LB
- 2013 — Victor Almonza, DB
- 2011 — Gerry Banda, OL
- 2011 — Colin Christensen, DB
- 2010 — Dallin Henrie, OL
- 2010 — Hadley Myers, LB
- 2009 — Nick Nissen, OL/DL
- 2009 — Derek Peterson, RB
To view second team and honorable mention all-staters through the years, check out the Deseret News All-State Archives.