High school football 5A semifinals: Alta advances to third-straight final

Defending 5A champion Alta punched a ticket to its third straight title game behind a strong defensive effort and crisp second-half passing from Ammon Olsen.

The senior quarterback completed all eight of his pass attempts in the second half, with three of them going for touchdowns to help the Hawks coast to a 42-14 semifinal victory over Syracuse at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Olsen finished passed for 263 yards and four touchdowns while completing 17-of-27 passes and also ran for another 99 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries

Alta took control of the game during a first half where it allowed the Titans to generate only 48 yards of total offense. Syracuse's struggles were particularly pronounced during the second quarter where it gained a total of three yards despite recovering a fumble on a punt return early in the quarter and blocking another punt just before the end of the half.

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