Playing former team proves tough for Havili

Other than head coach Aaron Whitehead and the 51 members of the East High football team, nobody thought the Leopards could beat high-powered Cottonwood last week.

In a very emotional game, East's swarming defense forced costly turnovers from two of Cottonwood's best players.

Between quarterback Alex Cate and running back Stanley Havili, the two turned it over seven times. Trailing 14-7 in the second quarter, East's offense went on a 27-0 run, thanks to the Colts' inability to take care of the ball.

"I was really surprised when we scored on them. They suddenly started fumbling the ball around. It was a big momentum shift for us," Whitehead said.

Tied at 14-14 in the second quarter, Stanley Havili coughed up the ball at the East 30-yard line, setting up the Leopards go-ahead touchdown.

Leading 21-14, East turned the game into a blowout by scoring touchdowns off of two Colt fumbles. Alex Cate lost the handle on the ball, which East recovered and turned into a Jake Cook touchdown.

Havili then fumbled on the Colts' 8-yard line, setting up a Sam Baldwin score and 34-14 deficit.

"You can never take anyone lightly. Never take anyone too lightly," said Colts head coach Tom Jones.

Cottonwood's defense never had an answer for the one-two punch of Travis Cornell and Jake Cook. The combination gained 235 yards on the ground and scored four times.

They also took away a lot of the Colts' swagger by hanging 46 points on them, the most Cottonwood has allowed this season.

Whitehead was glad to see his team responded to the challenge after a tough loss at Olympus.

"We needed to win this game. We hope people see us as a good program," he said. With the 46-34 win, East handed Cottonwood its first region loss.

A dejected Havili refused to talk about it after the game. The senior was only able to say he was sorry.

"He's coming back to play against a lot of his friends. He wanted to make a point in this game," said Colts assistant coach Jason Kaufusi. The former East High and University of Utah star knows all too well about playing against friends in rival games.

"It hurts. He wants to win, especially when you play against your buddies," the former Ute said.

The players at East say they still respect Havili, but it's not clear if they still consider him a friend.