It’s a rivalry with lots of emotions, and a rivalry that always produces a gritty game. Friday was no different as Brighton and Olympus battled to keep pace in Region 6. The final score favored the Bengals (3-4, 2-0) on their homecoming night at 14-10 over the Titans (3-4, 1-1).
The game wasn’t necessarily pretty and it didn’t chalk up the scoreboard, but if you’re a fan of plays by the special teams and defenses, then you left with a smile on your face.
“I really liked the way we came out in that game,” said Brighton coach Casey Sutera. “We had a good mindset, kept our emotions in check and executed. We kind of set the tone from the start defensively.”
The first part of the game proved a little slow paced with Brighton eating up chunks of the clock by eating up small chunks of the field. Both of Brighton’s first two drives accounted for five or more minutes and both of them finished with the same result of running back Staton Gutierrez capping off his workload with one-yard scores.
Kaden Hansen booted both PATs to put Brighton up 14-0 with 9:55 left to play in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, the Bengal defense wasn’t letting Olympus get much going, forcing punts after recording sacks. Both teams also traded back-to-back interceptions during a stretch in the second quarter.
But as little as Olympus possessed the ball in the first 22 minutes, it really only needed two plays to cut the lead in half heading into the locker room.
The Titans blocked a Brighton field goal attempt, which Hugh Matsumori then scooped up near the Olympus 25 yard line and ran it back to the Bengal 3 yard line.
Beckham Allred scored on the next play with :51.6 left in the quarter and Colter Rollins added the extra point to make it 14-7.
“Our offense had nice drives and then we had a couple of mistakes and they ended up taking advantage of the mistakes and then all of a sudden it’s a really tough ball game,” Sutera said, “which is always what it’s like between us.”
The second half only saw three points, which came in the fourth quarter with 6:55 left to play off a 21-yard field goal by Rollins. Up to that point, neither team could get its offense going as the Bengals missed a field goal but did record a blocked punt, and the Titans held Brighton drive after drive.
The Bengals offense seemed to stall in part to losing Gutierrez to injury and in part to an energized Titans team that came out of the locker room after the turnover and score in the first half.
“Staton is our workhorse, so when he got hurt, that was tough and we kind of had to figure things out without him,” Sutera said. “Some other running backs stepped up and helped us move the chains just enough, and hats off to our defense.”
One of the Bengal leaders on defense was Jaxon Nettleton, who blocked the punt and recovered it and recorded a sack.
“Defense had a really good game. This is one of our best games so far,” said Nettleton. “We just stuck to our assignments and played really well. We just played sound.”
Next up Olympus hosts Viewmont, while Brighton travels to Woods Cross for bragging rights and to stay atop Region 6.