Cottonwood High's team is starting from scratch

MURRAY — In most circles, a trip to the semifinals means the team had a great season.

At Cottonwood, however, it meant the star-studded Colts failed to reach their potential. With record-setting athletes at quarterback and running back — not to mention another handful of college recruits — Cottonwood was expected to be the team to beat in 4A.

Well, they were beat. Handily, in fact, by eventual state champs Mountain Crest.

Now, Stanley Havili, Alex Cate, Bubba Tuinei and Danny Payne have moved on. Without those stars, the Colts might be looking at a rebuilding season.

"We're starting over from scratch," Cottonwood coach Tom Jones said. "We anticipate that we'll struggle a little bit to start. But we'll get better as the season goes along."

The Colts have only three starters returning from the 2005 squad. But they're important starters to have back.

Simi Fili is a mountain of a man on the defensive line. The 320-pound senior is getting all sorts of attention from college scouts and will likely follow his good friend Havili to a top-tier Division I program.

One thing the Colts will not be is undersized.

Jon Tuiatanu returns at center and checks in at a strong 280 pounds. Linemen Budda and Teancum Tuinei, at 350 pounds, will be expected to step in as seniors after spending 2005 as key reserves.

The top returning offensive weapon is Donovan Malmrose. The speedy receiver grabbed 43 catches for 665 yards and six touchdowns last year.

Finding a replacement for Cate, though, will be one of the top priorities for Jones and his coaching staff. Austin Wadsworth threw only two passes as a sophomore last season and will have to hope his years learning the system pay off quickly. Wadsworth will be pushed in camp by a pair of sophomores in Austin Robbs and Steve Romero.

Senior Mikey Payne is quite possibly the fastest player in the state with a handful of state sprint championships in his pocket. He'll be counted on as a contributor in offense and defense, much like his all-state brother Danny.

Andre Tunsten, Finau Lomu and Isi Sofeli are the top candidates to replace Havili as the Colts' featured ball carrier.

Cottonwood will get a stiff test right out of the gate as they host 5A power Brighton before playing Grand Junction from Colorado.