From Deseret News archives:
High school football: Hawks prove too much for Eagles
Skyline had momentum in the second quarter against Alta, but a costly turnover deep in Hawks territory gave it back to Alta, which rode the wave the rest of the game to a 45-21 win in the Region 2 opener Friday night.
After Skyline's Zeke Egan blocked an Alta punt near midfield, the Eagles marched downfield to try and make it a one-touchdown game. On third down from the 5-yard line, Skyline quarterback Kevin Wagstaff pitched the ball to Caleb Latteire, but Latteire lost the handle. Alta's Zach Bigelow recovered the ball and gave it off to Garret Smart, who took it the rest of the way for a 96-yard touchdown to put the Hawks up 28-7.
"It really was the tide-turner of the game," said Alta coach Les Hamilton of the recovery touchdown.
"That was very tough to be down there and almost score and have them pick it up and run it all the way back," said Skyline coach Roger DuPaix of the turnover.
On the subject of turnovers, Alta (5-1) did a great job taking care of the ball, which has been one of the team's few weaknesses as it surrendered six giveaways in last week's loss to Grant, Calif. Aside from the blocked punt, the Hawks were virtually mistake-free in the first half as they built a 31-7 advantage.
"We've tried to work hard on dropping down those turnovers," Hamilton said.
Alta quarterback Ammon Olsen set the early tone by finding wide-open receivers. Olsen hit Chase Herbert in the middle of the field for a 40-yard gain on the game's first possession, and then threaded a pinpoint, 10-yard pass to Herbert for the game's first score.
After the Hawks stopped Skyline, Alta's Skyler Mayne gave the Hawks great field position by returning a punt to the Skyline 31. But after a sack, Alta faced fourth-and-15. Not wanting to waste good position, the Hawks went for it, and Olsen found Parker Webster, who made a juggling catch between two defenders to give Alta first down at the 5-yard line. On fourth-and-goal, Olsen rolled right, turned back left and lofted a pass into the hands of Drake Eckholdt in the end zone. Olsen ran for the 2-point conversion to give Alta a 14-0 lead.
Olsen finished with 183 yards passing, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Eckholdt caught two of the scoring strikes, and Herbert also hauled in two — including one from backup quarterback Jordan Brown. Parker Hausknecht added a touchdown run.
Skyline (3-3) got on the board in the second quarter as Wagstaff faked a handoff, found a seam and raced 63 yards for the Eagles' first touchdown.
The Eagles have lost three of their last four after a 2-0 start.
"Our kids tried to fight back," Dupaix said. "We just have to keep on task and ... get better next week."
