Friday’s 5A quarterfinal showdown between No. 2 Fremont and No. 7 Brighton had plenty of star power and some of the hottest teams in the state.
But in the end, the Bengals, led by their stingy defense, held on to take down the Silverwolves in a hard-fought 27-14 road victory.
“I couldn’t be prouder of our team,” said Brighton head coach Casey Sutera. “Fremont is a terrific football team and we knew it was going to be a battle, but we had a game plan and the boys executed it phenomenally.”
Knowing how potent Fremont’s offense could be, the Bengals came in with a plan to shorten the game by putting together long drives — thanks to their potent rushing attack — which they hoped would keep the Silverwolves out of rhythm on offense.
And it worked to perfection.
Fremont got off to a great start with a fumble recovery by Ryker Shepherd to give the Silverwolves great field position deep in Brighton territory, but the Bengal defense rose to the occasion like it did for much of the night by forcing a three and out and not giving up any points after a missed field goal.
Brighton was able to run the ball effectively but couldn’t convert that into touchdowns as it had to settle for two field goals from Kaden Hansen – which included a 50-yarder with plenty of room to spare.
Fremont briefly took the lead at 7-6 right before halftime as quarterback Manase Tuatagaloa — who left the game in the second half — threw a 45-yard pass to Salesi Moa, and then connected right after for a 15-yard touchdown to give the Silverwolves the lead.
But it was all Brighton in the second half as the Bengals forced three turnovers – including a scoop and score by Jaxon Nettleton – as well as two key interceptions by senior safety William Little.
“Everyone was making plays tonight and we knew we needed to do that if we wanted to win,” said Little. “We know what we can do as a team and tonight proved that.”
Even defensive tackle Samuel Tauvao got in on the scoring action as the Bengals faced a 4th and 1 from the 14-yard line. Instead of kicking a field goal, the Bengals wanted to put the game away with a touchdown. Using their heavy package, the team fooled everyone as the ball was handed off to the 300-pound Tauvao who ran up the middle untouched and into the end zone.
“We’ve been working on that play and I’m so happy for him,” said Sutera. “We tried that a couple weeks ago and we didn’t give him the ball so I promised next time we had that opportunity we were going to do it.”
With the win, Brighton advances to take on No. 3 Springville at Rice -Eccles Stadium in the 5A semifinals. The Red Devils held on for a 28-21 victory over No. 6 Box Elder to advance.