Disciplined Alta gets first win over Olympus in 4 years
A strong first half by Alta propelled it past Olympus 23-10. Alta scored 16 of its 23 points in the first half and its defense stood strong, with the Hawks taking a 16-3 advantage into the halftime break. From there it was just about playing clean football and managing the clock.
In its first Region 6 game of the season, Alta proved it is a team to keep a close eye on as the schedule moves deeper into region play.
The scoring was spread throughout the roster, with kicker Madden McCallister nailing a 35-yard field goal to start the game and three different players scoring a touchdown.
“It was a good win for our program,” said Alta head coach Blake Burdette. “Olympus is a very good team, and we haven’t beat them in four years. I was happy with the progression of our offense, and our defense is playing really well right now. We still have a long way to go, but I’m happy with the progress.”
Burdette was very pleased with how his team played in all three phases of the game, and finally beating Olympus can give the Hawks some big momentum moving forward.
“We played three phases of football,” Burdette said. “Special teams was good, our defense was excellent and like I said, our offense improved. I think getting the monkey off our back of beating Olympus is big. It’s a huge positive.
“After losing two games, getting a win like this helps us with some momentum going into the game with Woods Cross.”
Burdette is confident that if his team can take the positives from this game and continue working on areas that need improvement, good things are in store.
“We have a lot that we can still improve on, and that is a huge positive for us,” he said. “There’s lots of stuff from that game that if we execute, we can be in the thick of things in our region by the end of the season.”
Strong rushing game pushes Fremont past Northridge in Region 5 play
Fremont continued its dominant performance in Region 5 play, remaining undefeated by getting past Northridge 31-17.
It looked like the Silverwolves took control of the game in the second quarter. Down 3-0 and struggling to get things going offensively, Fremont’s Breckon Phillips took matters into his own hands and scored on an 11-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Calvin Cooper to give the Silverwolves their first lead of the game.
They eventually led 17-3 but with the score tied 17-17 with three minutes to go in regulation, Fremont showed what it is capable of on the ground.
RJ Fonoti scored on a 36-yard run and then Isaia Fonotisatele scored with 27 seconds remaining to ice the game for the Silverwolves.
“I think key to victory was getting the stops we needed and our run game,” said Fremont head coach Nate Tuatagaloa. “We had almost 300 yards rushing and averaged almost 10 yards a carry.
“Aisa Tuatagaloa and RJ Fonoti stepped up big time for us. Aisa had 140 total yards and 10 tackles while RJ had 100 yards and 12 tackles.”
Coach Tuatagaloa loved the fact that while his team was far from perfect on the night, it still was able to find a way to get the job done when it mattered.
Going forward, Tuatagaloa knows that with the rash of injuries his team has seen, he will continue to need to get contributions up and down his roster.
“We just need to keep developing our kids,” he said. “Every team experiences injuries, so we need to stay proactive with it and make sure we put our boys in a position to succeed. I have all the confidence in our coaches that we will continue doing that.”
Big offensive 1st half pushes Murray over East
Dru Reuss led the way for Murray with two rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown to help the Spartans get the win over East, 38-21.
Murray broke away early, taking a comfortable 28-7 lead into halftime. While East has struggled this season and remains winless, Murray has had its own recent struggles against the Leopards.
For Murray head coach Dalton Dunn, seeing his team earn such a convincing win over a team that has given it trouble in the past is something he hopes can provide momentum moving forward.
“It was an important game for us facing a very physical East team that we have historically struggled against,” he said. “I am extremely proud of how our team started the game fast and demonstrated grit when we faced adversity during the game.”
Dunn especially loved how his team was able to perform and show its dominance in all facets of the game.
“We played well in every part of the game: Our offense was explosive and got us an early lead. Our defense was relentless, getting big stops and forcing turnovers and our special teams controlled field position and scored points,” he said.
“It takes winning in all three phases of the game to beat a well-coached, physical team like East.”
East tried mightily to make a comeback, scoring on a 4-yard run from Winston Creer and a 7-yard run by Lamonae Nonu, but a 43-yard field goal by Anthony Guerra with 1:45 left in the game sealed the win for Murray.
“The resilience our team showed to close out the game proves we are galvanizing as a team,” Dunn said. “The confidence and belief in each other is going to help us as we face tough region opponents and make a push into the playoffs.”
Braxton DeMille leads the way for Cedar City in win over North Sanpete
After falling behind 9-0 in the first quarter, Cedar City scored 17 unanswered points in the second to get its offense going and never looked back, defeating North Sanpete in a powerful offensive display, 48-24.
The win showed Cedar City’s ability to respond to early adversity and maintain its offensive rhythm in a big way throughout the remainder of the game.
“North Sanpete plays as hard as anyone on our schedule, which is a testament to Coach (Dave) Peck and their staff. We knew that we would need to give great effort every play and we did that throughout the game,” said Cedar City head coach Tirell Hiatt.
Cedar City was led by Braxton DeMille, who had a standout game with four rushing touchdowns on the night.
“Very proud of our team for staying focused throughout the game and finishing. We have had close games all season and it was great to see the program finish,” Hiatt said.
“This game was another opportunity for us to compete, and I was very pleased to see us play together as a team and give great effort.”
After losing a heartbreaker to Dixie in overtime, Cedar City has now won two games in a row and Hiatt looks forward to seeing how his team can build upon its momentum from the win over North Sanpete.
“I loved the effort from the offensive and defensive lines. Those are two units where we have challenged them to raise their standard of play, and we saw that improvement Friday night,” Hiatt said.
“We have always believed you win games up front, and those two units are working hard to improve.”
Ridgeline gets blowout win over Desert Peak to remain undefeated
Ridgeline didn’t let a little inclement weather dampen its mood, as it cruised to a 55-7 blowout victory over Desert Peak.
With the win, Ridgeline remains undefeated and improved its record to 6-0 on the season.
“It was a great team win. I thought we handled a long road trip and a lightning delay really well. We played well in all three phases of the game. We’ll take this win, enjoy it, and then get back to work,” said Ridgeline head coach Travis Cox.
“We’ve created some good momentum over the last few games, and we’re going to continue to build on that.”
Cox loved what he saw from both the pass game and the run game in offense, and he was thrilled with the amount of physicality and discipline his players showed.
“Offensively, we had some big chunk plays. Obviously, Noah (Fiefia) ran the ball really well, but I also thought we threw the ball effectively and did some really good things in the passing game,” Cox said.
“Defensively, we played very physical, and our kids played extremely hard. It was also great to see Colton Clark take a punt return to the house. Those plays can really change the momentum of a game.”
While there could have been a number of things that could have distracted his team from the task at hand and made players lose focus, Cox could not be happier the way his team was able to handle and adjust to things that were out of its control.
“One of the biggest positives from this win was learning how to handle the things you can’t control,” he said. “The weather was a mess, traffic was a mess and then we had the lightning delay, but our kids didn’t let any of that impact their focus or how they played.”