High school football: Titans tame Wildcats for 35-28 win

SALT LAKE CITY — Watching Woods Cross mount a six minute scoring drive on the game's opening possession seemed like a bad omen for Olympus.

The Titans proved unable to prevent the Wildcats from moving the chains on one run play after another. Such textbook ball control meant Olympus needed to find an answer and fast.

"They just pounded it on us and we tried to respond with a good touchdown," junior quarterback Scott Porter said.

The Titans not only matched that initial touchdown but also managed to shut down Woods Cross for the next two quarters en route to a 35-28 victory on Friday night.

Porter directed the offense to touchdowns on three of its four first-half possessions. The junior completed 14-of-23 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw a pair of interceptions, one of which led to a late Wildcat score.

Still, Olympus coach Mike Smith had nothing but praise for Porter's accuracy in just his fourth game back after sitting out a season with an ACL injury.

"He was right on the numbers," Smith said. "Scott is going to be a very good football player."

Porter certainly made a difference in helping Olympus respond to Woods Cross after the Wildcats went 75 yards in 15 plays — capped off by a 1 yard keeper by Tyler Parson — to take a 7-0 lead with 4:45 left in the first quarter.

On the Titans' subsequent drive, he completed a pair of huge passes to set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Jordan Archibald that tied the game at 7-7. Porter then completed five of seven passes for 64 yards — with the final one being a three yard strike to Nick Johnson in the middle of the end zone — to put Olympus up 14-7 with 3:33 left before halftime.

Disaster almost struck for the Titans when Adam Hales returned the ensuing kickoff 91 yards to make it 14-14. But Porter steadied the team again with a pair of huge pass plays, including a 24-yarder to Spencer Lindsley for his second touchdown, to put Olympus back up 21-14 with 1:15 remaining in the half.

Porter credited the defense with making his job easier by holding Woods Cross in check after that opening drive.

"Our defense just stepped up," Porter said. "They played awesome and gave us great field position the whole night."