High school football: Hawk LBs continue team's dominant D tradition

On the way to winning the 2007 5A state football title, the Alta linebacking crew drew many accolades. There was plenty of talk of it being one of the best units to come through the high school ranks in many years. Boo Andersen was the Deseret News Mr. Football, while Jefferson Court and Jordan Anderson each earned all-state recognition.

After Alta's 42-14 handling of Syracuse in the 5A semifinals to advance to the title game for the third consecutive season, one thing fans and opposing coaches are learning about this season's Hawks is that the 2008 linebackers are pretty darn good as well.

"They haven't got enough publicity," said coach Les Hamilton of the new trio. "Garrett Smart, our mike (middle) linebacker, taking over for Jefferson Court and we're not skipping a beat. The kid has been our quarterback on defense. A'i Ho-Ching was fantastic. The kid's big, he's physical and he's only a junior. Parker Hausknecht did a great job, too. We actually even played him a little bit at safety to mix things up."

The Alta defense was dominant. Both Syracuse touchdowns came late in the fourth quarter, long after the outcome was decided. The Titans gained only 108 yards in the first three quarters, and only three in the second.

"The defense was there all night," said Hamilton. "They were fast and they were physical. The guys stepped up and did the job tonight."

Not surprisingly, the top three tacklers on the team were the linebackers. Smart finished with 10 total stops. Ho-Ching added seven tackles, two sacks for minus-10 yards and a forced fumble, and Hausknecht chipped in five tackles and recovered a fumble. Playing well in big games is a tradition of playing linebacker for Alta, and that tradition is not lost on the group.

"We knew someone needed to step up," said Ho-Ching of losing all three 'backers from last season. "Halbert (Ron, the defensive coordinator) told us that every year it is the linebackers leading the defense, and we decided that we wanted it to be us this year."

While stepping in and making big plays is expected, the enjoyment and fulfillment of having yet another successful season is not lost on the group.

"It is one of the best things in the world. I wouldn't trade it for anything else," concluded Ho-Ching.

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E-mail: mblack@desnews.com