High school football: Bountiful rallies to upset No. 3 Sky View
"We haven't been scored on in the fourth quarter," said senior Andrew Welling, who recovered a fumble in the Braves' 21-14 upset of third-ranked Sky View on Friday night. "We're a second-half team."
That was certainly true in Friday's win, although the defense kept Bountiful in the game with solid first-half play. The game started off looking like the Bobcats might just run away with a win.
At 9:09 of the first quarter, Brayden Compton returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown to give Sky View a 7-0 lead.
"Our defense wasn't that bad in the first half," said Bountiful head coach Larry Wall. "That first punt runback kind of shocked us a little bit. ... After that, they settled in and played good 'D."'
Sky View held Bountiful on the next series and had a 67-yard punt return, although the Braves managed to keep the Bobcats out of the end zone on that play. Just before the second quarter ended, quarterback Kyler Carlsen connected with Ben Lundberg for a 26-yard pass play and the Bobcats' second touchdown.
Neither team scored in the second, but the Braves' defense began to make some big plays, including Travis Parish's first interception of the night. Parish had another pick, but it was at the end of the game, and while he fumbled it a second later, his teammate Cullen Clark jumped on it and ended any hopes of a Bobcat comeback.
Cullen, Miner, Walling and Parish were part of a defense that stymied one of the state's most prolific offenses. Conner Winters intercepted a pass that led to Bountiful's first touchdown. Wall said his team prepared for the challenge of shutting down an effective offense with numerous weapons.
Offensively, Miner ran an efficient offense that relied often on running backs Mike Fabrizio and Mitch "the Tank" Johnson. Johnson finished with two rushing touchdowns, while Cullen's six-yard catch was the game-winner.
"They're one of the top offenses, but we're one of the top in the state in not giving up points," said Wall. "Our kids were up to the challenge. They have a lot of pride."
Welling said he and his teammates weren't panicked when they trailed 14-0 at halftime.
"We've been down before," he said. "We're an experienced team with great coaches. They made some adjustments and just reminded us that we've been down before. We're a tough team."
The win was important for many reasons, but probably most importantly because it keeps the Braves in contention for the region 5 title. Bountiful's only loss is to Mountain Crest, the team Sky View must face next weekend.
"That's a huge win for us," said Wall. "It keeps us in contention."
E-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com
Recent comments
sky view worst defense in region 5 and state they are going to lose…
kinyon | Oct. 22, 2008 at 8:40 a.m.
ya sky view had one of the worst defenses in the state they are going…
kinyon | Oct. 22, 2008 at 8:38 a.m.
To the person who was talking about seedings you were correct about…
Anonymous | Oct. 15, 2008 at 10:24 a.m.
