After a hard-fought battle and two lengthy weather delays, the Brighton defense made the plays when it mattered most.
Holding on to a one-score lead, the Brighton defense broke up a fourth-down pass play from Woods Cross for a 28-21 road victory Friday night.
“To be honest, the first (weather delay) the kids did a great job and I got ‘em fired up with a little speech,” Brighton coach Casey Sutera said. “That last one was all the kids….they got the music going in the locker room and that sparked them to come out and finish the game."
Brighton running back Cole Heemeyer gouged the Woods Cross defense, rushing for over 150 yards and finishing with two touchdowns. Heemeyer picked up yards in chunks with four rushes of 20-plus yards.
Heemeyer gave credit to the Bengal offensive line.
“They were amazing,” Heemeyer said. “They fight every day and they are probably the most consistent unit of our team. Through injuries they stay strong and stay fighting and today explained it all.
“The weather tried to stop us, everything tried to stop us but the offensive line came out and played tonight.”
Both teams entered Friday’s contest with 2-0 region records. Playing at home and winners of four straight, Woods Cross came in favored but the Bengals took the fight right to their opponent.
On the Bengals’ first drive, quarterback Ryce Palepoi connected with tight end Slade Taylor on a 30-yard pass play. Moments later Heemeyer broke through the middle, evaded several tackles and scampered his way to a 41-yard touchdown run.
The Woods Cross offense went three-and-out and the Bengal offense capitalized as a 30-yard punt return from Dax Matheson gave the Bengals excellent field position. Palepoi connected with Taylor for a 10-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Midway through the second quarter Woods Cross finally got untracked with the defense igniting the offense. A high snap from Brighton was bobbled with the ensuing fumble being recovered by Viliami Tapa’atoutai.
Woods Cross quarterback Jesse Simmons consolidated the turnover when he found Marcus Stepan on a 14-yard touchdown pass
The Bengals answered with Heemeyer extending the lead to 21-7 with a 3-yard plunge just before the half.
“I thought we played really well at times but we did have some lapses in focus,” Sutera said. “We kind of have to figure those things out to take the next step and make a run at this thing.”
Brighton scored on its first possession of the second half when Palepoi hit Jayce Evans with a 35-yard strike that lifted Brighton to a 28-7 lead.
Down but not out, Woods Cross came roaring back as Simmons hit Teiyon Halbasch for a 67-yard touchdown reception. Then midway through the final quarter Woods Cross cut the lead to 28-21 when workhorse back Tapa’atoutai scored on a 5-yard plunge.
“Hats off to Woods Cross. That is a really tough and physical team,” Sutera said. “Coach (Brody) Benson does a fantastic job. A lot of teams wouldn’t have kept battling in that situation but that’s a really tough team and I was proud of our kids and they kept on fighting and battled until the end.”