High school football: Fired-up Alta wallops rival Brighton

Certainly, Alta is the better team this year. And, yes, these schools are still as bitter rivals as they have been. Don't let the score fool you.

Ammon Olsen passed for 208 yards and scored two touchdowns rushing to lead the Hawks' offense. Defensively, the Hawks held Brighton to 24 total yards and just four first downs.

"The difference was their speed," said Brighton coach Ryan Bullett, "and their quarterback (Olsen). He's the real deal. The ball gets out there (to Alta's receivers) in a hurry."

Alta wanted to jump on the Bengals early — for a reason.

On Thursday, the Brighton sophomore football team played Alta on the Hawks field and earned a hard-fought victory. Afterward, the Bengals reportedly danced on the Alta logo at midfield.

"We had some varsity players in the stands watching that game," said Alta coach Les Hamilton. "They didn't appreciate it."

They showed it immediately.

The Hawks' first-half dominance was especially impressive. Alta scored touchdowns on its first four possessions. The score was 28-0 before Brighton earned a first down.

Besides Olsen's scores, Parker Hausknecht ran for two touchdowns, Chase Herbert ran for one and Olsen hit Herbert on a 42-yard pass for another score. Alta rubbed it in when Vance Bingham nailed a 38-yard field goal just before halftime to make it 38-0. The Hawks scored a touchdown the play before, but it was nullified by a penalty.

"I was really excited about the first half," said Hamilton, whose team is now 6-1 and 2-0 in Region 2 play. "It all came together. Our defense was playing well and gave our offense short fields."

Here's another impressive statistic. Brighton had eight yards in the first half. The Bengals ran 33 plays in the opening two quarters and only seven plays resulted in positive yardage.

Brighton never even threatened to score. The Bengals crossed midfield only once (barely). Brighton's best threat was its punter, sophomore Loi Mosina, who averaged 37 yards on eight punts, including a 64-yarder.

Alta added another touchdown late in the third quarter and the clock ran almost steadily throughout the second half, thanks to the Utah High School Activities Association's "mercy rule."

Since the game was never in doubt, nobody complained. Afterward, Bullett was glad to get his players on the bus as quickly as possible and avoid any confrontations with their opponents.

"The key for us is to keep our heads up," he said. "We're going in the right direction. We're young. We have some good players, and some good ones coming up."

Brighton, now 1-6 overall and 1-1 in region, used quarterback Jace Felix to try to revive its ailing offense. Felix and running back Dallin Jackman had big games in the Bengals' win last week against Taylorsville.

Against Alta, it was a different story. Jackman had 27 yards in eight carries. Felix completed just 3 of 17 passes with two interceptions.

Olsen completed 10 of 20 passes. He threw to seven different receivers. Wide receiver Parker Webster was his favorite target, grabbing three balls for 71 yards.

Recent comments

Add your comment