Mustangs in the fast lane

BOUNTIFUL — Mountain Crest coach Mark Wootton had one thing to say after his team's 39-10 thrashing of Bountiful on Friday night.

"That was fun."

That was easy for him to say. He was wearing orange.

The fourth-ranked Mustangs (6-1) rolled over No. 2 Bountiful (5-2) as Brady Zimmerman completed 13-of-28 passes for 297 yards and six touchdowns — four passing, two rushing — while Brady Wootton racked up 190 rushing yards and 62 receiving yards.

Mountain Crest's 32 unanswered points in the final three quarters sure put a damper on Larry Wall's halftime celebration. Over 60 former high school players gathered on the field at halftime to honor Wall's 20 years as head coach of the Braves. The Mustangs made sure it was a fairly uneventful moment.

"We just talked all week how it was their coach's night, how they were going to be up for it, so we had to keep up the intensity," said Brady Wootton.

The Mustangs did that in a big way. More importantly, they were the better team during a 30-second stretch late in the first half that was realistically the difference in the game.

With 1:19 remaining in the half, Zimmerman capped an efficient 70-yard drive in which he completed 3-of-4 passes by zig-zagging his way through Bountiful's defense on a 28-yard touchdown run.

Mountain Crest's risk-taking coaching staff wasn't content trying to take the 21-10 lead into halftime.

The Mustangs recovered the ensuing on-side kick, and after a chop-block penalty put them in a second-and-25 situation, Zimmerman merely aired out a 59-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Webb.

Was was once a 14-10 Mustangs advantage had quickly ballooned into a 27-10 advantage as Zimmerman finished with 240 passing yards in the first half.

"Zimmerman is so accurate right now," said coach Wootton.

Bountiful's defense came out with a big stop to open up the second half, but the Braves offense eventually fumbled it away just 11 yards from the end zone. Mountain Crest iced the game two-plays later.

Following a 20-yard run by Alex Bearnson, Wootton reeled off a 64-yard touchdown run to put Mountain Crest ahead 33-10 after the missed extra point.

The Mustangs scored again late in the game on a one-yard TD run by Zimmerman.

As pleased as he was with his team's offense, coach Wootton was most pleased with his defense.

"The (offense) gets a lot of credit, almost to the point it's embarrassing, but our defense showed that their the heart and soul of this team," said Wootton.

Bountiful actually lead 10-7 after the first quarter, but the Braves only managed 118 total yards in the final three quarters.

With the win, Mountain Crest improved to 6-1 overall, while Bountiful falls to 5-2.

"It shows we can play with anybody," said Brady Wootton.

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E-mail: jedward@desnews.com