Bountiful claims Region 6 crown with win

BOUNTIFUL — Region 6's standings were muddled entering the final day of the league's regular season, and Bountiful wanted to bring some clarity to them.

They did just that — emphatically.

The Braves put a shellacking on Olympus in a 56-14 win on Thursday night and got an assist from Highland. When the Rams beat East, it gave Bountiful the outright Region 6 championship.

"That's great to hear," Bountiful quarterback Cam Zollinger said of Highland beating East. "We're really excited to accomplish our goal."

Because they beat Olympus, the Braves would have been Region 6's No. 1 seed in the 4A playoffs even without Highland's win over East. But for Bountiful, it's sweet not having to share the league crown.

"It's big," Zollinger said. "Our goal the whole season is to win region. It's really big for our school, and our program."

The Braves left no doubt about who deserves to be Region 6 champs on Thursday. They hammered the Titans from the opening minutes until when they started pulling their starters in the third quarter.

Bountiful established its running game on its opening drive, going 65 yards on six plays, and culminating with an 8-yard touchdown run by Teau Satuala. On the Titans' first drive, it was obvious they weren't ready for the primetime showdown.

Olympus dropped three passes, one of which could have gone for a touchdown, and committed an illegal procedure penalty on its opening possession. Bountiful senior Kyle Pawlowski ended the Titans' drive by intercepting a pass and returning it 75 yards for a touchdown.

Satuala intercepted a pass on the Titans' next possession, giving the Braves excellent field position. Zollinger scored on a 1-yard run to make it 21-0 barely seven minutes into the contest.

"It's that full moon up there," Bountiful coach Larry Wall said of his team's scary good start. "Early, everything was happening right. I'm really proud of our kids with the way we came out."

He would get even prouder. After the Titans scored to make it 21-7, the Braves took their play to a higher level. David Coffman scored the first of his two touchdowns on a 1-yard run, Spencer Schmidt had a 12-yard touchdown run and Satuala returned an interception 65 yards for a score to make it 42-7 midway through the second quarter.