High school football: Alta cruises to shutout of Kearns

KEARNS — Ammon Olsen threw for 191 yards and three touchdowns in leading Alta to a 28-0 romp over Kearns here Friday.

"He's one of the best (quarterbacks) in the state," said Hawks head coach Les Hamilton. "He stood up the way he knows how to. I think he had a phenomenal game."

In addition to his passing stats, which came during a 13-of-17 performance, Olsen added 19 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.

Kearns, which found itself on the winning end of a shutout only a week ago, managed to keep the game tight early on. The Cougars kept Alta scoreless through the first quarter and stopped a 10-play, 57-yard drive dead in its tracks by forcing a fumble at the Kearns 23.

"They played us tough," Hamilton said of the Cougars. "Coming into this game, they had only given up seven points. And if it wasn't for a couple of great plays by individuals, we would have gone into halftime tied 0-0."

Those "couple of plays" came thanks to Olsen and wide receiver Parker Webster. Olsen broke the scoreless tie with 6:17 to play in the second quarter when he hit Webster on a 27-yard touchdown strike to cap a six-play, 80-yard drive. The two Hawks hooked up once again on the next Alta drive, this time for a 29-yard TD toss, to top a two-play, 48-yard drive with 3:53 in the half.

The Hawks opened the second half with another impressive drive. This time, Alta moved 71 yards in 10 plays to score on a three-yard Olsen touchdown run with 7:16 to play in the third for a 21-0 lead.

On the next Alta drive, the Hawks took it 66 yards in six plays to score when Olson hit tight end Drake Eckholdt on an eight-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left in the quarter and a 28-0 lead.

Olson and other Hawks offensive starters took a seat for the remainder of the game and the teams traded possessions the rest of the way.

"I was proud of the team because they stepped it up at halftime," Hamilton said. "The defense has played so well so far this year. Even when the offense has struggled, the defense has kept us solid."

Hamilton added it was nice to record a shutout.

"I think in the second half we were able to wear them down a bit," Hamilton said. "We were able to establish a running game."

Hamilton said he was proud of running back Kava Afu, who racked up 36 yards on five carries for the Hawks. Four of his carries and 29 of his rushing yards came in the second half.

"We've been waiting for him to have a breakout game," Hamilton said. "He had a really good second half."

The Hawks improved to 3-0 on the season, while Kearns is now 2-1.