Note: Pleasant Grove finished with a 5-5 overall record in 2014 and was fifth in Region 4 with a 2-4 record. It did not qualify for the playoffs.
Pleasant Grove 2014 Stat Recap
PLEASANT GROVE — It's not so much how you start, but how you finish that determines the success of a season. It was a lesson painfully learned by Pleasant Grove last season.
The Vikings rushed to a 4-1 start before they encountered two big and somewhat unavoidable problems according to Pleasant Grove coach Les Hamilton.
"We just had a lot of key injuries that really hurt us, that we couldn't really get over and then our youth," Hamilton said. "The wheels just started to come off and we couldn't make the plays when we needed to in some close games."
Pleasant Grove lost four of its final five games and missed the playoffs, a hard pill to swallow for a team that started out with so much promise.
With 2014 in the past, the Vikings are looking forward to 2015 with a lot of optimism.
"We have a lot of those same players returning this year that went through that tough stretch," Hamilton said. "Hopefully we've learned that when we're in tight games in the fourth quarter against teams in this tough region that we can now do what we need to do to come out on top."
Hamilton's team returns around 16 starters from last year's squad along with some promising newcomers coaches will expect to play big roles.
Speaking of big, the Vikings will present what could prove to be the biggest and most physical line in the state. The first thing that jumps out at an observer is a college-like offensive line that includes several players approaching and even surpassing 300 pounds.
"We have some good returning players on our line, guys we're real excited about," Hamilton said. "With a big, strong offensive line you can do a lot of things and that's what we're planning on."
Key components of Pleasant Grove's offensive front include Walker Wolfgramm (6-foot-3, 285 pounds), Matt Raass (6-3, 345), Tarren Sutch (6-4, 300) and Cole Watts (6-7, 290).
"The parts are there to have a real physical and productive offensive line, we just have to work to prove it on the field," Hamilton said.
At starting quarterback, Hamilton will turn to his son, junior Isaac Hamilton.
"He's a 6-foot-5 kid who throws it well, but he's just young and inexperienced," Les Hamilton said. "He had some experience last year, but he needs to be a lot better this year and he knows that. If we get good play there then it will really be big for us."
Isaac Hamilton will have several experienced receivers to throw to such as seniors Coleman Edwards, Jacob Doman along with Malik and William Overstreet.
Edwards will also play running back along with Koy Wilkenson.
"We're going to be balanced on offense and hopefully get a good run game going to take the pressure off the quarterback," Hamilton said. "I think we're going to be a lot better defensively as well, so that will help take some pressure away."
Defensive standouts are expected to be defensive back Dillon McSpadden, defensive lineman Ramsey Mulitalo, linebacker Sione Raass, defensive back Mitchell Price, linebacker Aaron Sperry, defensive back Jake Jaynes, linebacker Jackson Newman and defensive lineman A.J. Fite. Others, such as Doman and Wolfgramm are expected to play big roles on both sides of the ball.
"We're going to ask more guys to play on both sides of the ball simply because they're capable of it now," Hamilton said. "We have some really good players who can handle big roles and we're going to use them as much as possible."
Pleasant Grove's impressive list of returning starters caused Region 4 coaches to vote the Vikings as the preseason Region 4 favorites heading into the season.
"It's nice being thought of as a team that can come out on top, but it's going to take a lot of work and a lot of things have to go our way," Hamilton said. "We like our chances a lot though. We feel we'll be a lot deeper than last year and that we'll have guys that can finish games off in the fourth quarter, something we didn't have enough of last season."
Pleasant Grove Vikings at a glance
Coach: Les Hamilton is entering his fourth year at Pleasant Grove after coaching at Alta High, Hunter High and Grantsville High. He has a 97-50 career record. He won two state championships while at Alta, and is originally from Petaluma, California.
Offense (spread; 8 returning starters)
Offensive Coordinator: Les Hamilton
Returning starters on offense
Coleman Edwards (RB/WR)
Matt Raass (OL)
Will Overstreet (WR)
Walker Wolfgramm (OL)
Jacob Doman (WR)
Malik Overstreet (WR)
Roy Wilkenson (RB)
Sione Raass (RB)
Defense (3-3-5; 8 returning starters)
Defensive Coordinator: Ron Halbert
Returning starters on defense
Coleman Edwards (DB)
Dillon McSpadden (DB)
Jacob Doman (DB)
Ramsey Mulitalo (DL)
Mitchell Price (DB)
Aaron Sperry (LB)
Jake Jaynes (DB)
A.J. Fite (DL)
Coaches preseason Region 4 straw poll: First
Deseret News Region 4 prediction: Second
Bottom Line: With all the parts seemingly in place the Vikings should be able to live up to their preseason prognostications. A tough preseason schedule should have the team well prepared for what looks like another tough Region 4 slate. Should the line come together as expected, along with the quarterback position, the Vikings should find themselves making a deep playoff run and possibly winning the 5A state championship.
Last 5
2014 — 5-5 (2-4 in Region 4 -- Missed playoffs)
2013 — 9-3 (4-2 in Region 4 -- 5A Quarterfinals)
2012 — 6-5 (3-2 in Region 4 -- 5A First round)
2011 — 3-7 (1-4 in Region 4 -- Missed playoffs)
2010 — 5-7 (3-3 in Region 4 -- 5A First round)
Pleasant Grove coaching history
2012-current — Les Hamilton (21-12)
2004-2011 — Dale Sampson (48-44)
1987-2003 — Bill Mikelson (89-83)
1980-1986 — Doug Bluth (46-26)
1976-1979 — Bill Kelly (17-21)
1971-1975 — Paul Gillespie (32-17)
1967-1970 — Unknown (15-22)
1966 — Ron Nielson (4-5)
1962-1965 — Gordon Osborne (18-15-3)
1957-1961 — Unknown (18-22-2)
1955-1956 — Ned Alger (22-0)
1953-1954 — Gil Meier (5-9-2)
1952 — Mr. Shifrer (0-7)
1943-1951 — Unknown (25-39)
1937-1942 — Earl "Duke" Giles (8-26-1)
1936 — Elroy West (0-4)
1908-1935 — Unknown (3-14-3)
Deseret News First Team all-staters the past 10 years
2014 — Demetrius Davis, OL
2013 — Zac Dawe, DL
2011 — Brandon Fanaika, OL
2010 — Austin Heder LB
2009 — Joe Kruger, DL
2009 — Dallas Lloyd, Specialist
2008 — Josh Ramage, OL
2008 — LeSean Wilcox, DB
2006 — Zach Brady, DB
To view second team and honorable mention all-staters through the years, check out the Deseret News All-State Archives.
Email: bgurney@desnews.com
Twitter: @BrandonCGurney