Veteran Hawks team makes short work of Dons

SPANISH FORK — This was one of those typical opening games which came down to experience vs. youth. In the end, the veteran Alta Hawks won out by routing the Spanish Fork Dons 44-7.

The Hawks built a comfortable 21-0 halftime lead, despite committing double-digit penalties, and coasted from there. Fans expected to see 2006 Mr. Football Sausan Shakerin pick up where he left off last season, but a wounded knee kept him on the sidelines. The Hawks had plenty of other weapons, however, gaining more than 360 yards total offense.

Alta's Parker Wallbeck was responsible for three scores, two receiving and one rushing. Hawks' quarterback Ryan Rosenvall tossed three touchdown passes and scored one himself on a 3-yard quarterback sneak.

"I thought our defense tonight was phenomenal," said Alta coach Les Hamilton. "They played their hearts out. Offense made some big plays. Parker Wallbeck hasn't played football. It's his senior year and he's the younger brother of an all-stater we had. Tonight he just wowed me. I think he wowed everybody in the stands."

That defensive effort was led by a group of returning defensive stars, as Alta recorded four sacks in the first half, two from linebacker Boo Anderson and as many by defensive end Derek Keller. A sloppy style of football was witnessed in the first half as both teams appeared to be somewhat rusty or maybe suffered from a case of the first-game jitters. Even so, Alta moved the ball down the field with successful pass plays.

In the second half it appeared that the Hawks had found last year's swagger. Linebacker Jordan Anderson picked off a pass and raced 20 yards for a score. Wallbeck continued to provide the fireworks as he took a handoff and sprinted outside before finally coming to rest 40 yards later in the end zone.

Spanish Fork's only score came when sophomore Jordan Madsen caught his first varsity touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Breck Lewis. But this game was in the books early. Top performers for the Dons were defensive players Siosifa Vaitohi, who recorded two sacks with five solo tackles, and senior Kyle Weight, who had six solo takedowns.

Hamilton mentioned that Shakerin would be ready to go by next week as the Hawks hit the road again. Only this time they will face off with No. 1 Bingham in a rematch of last year's 5A state championship game.