High school football: Knowles leads Mountain Crest past Bonneville

HYRUM — It was an up-and-down game for Mountain Crest's Alex Knowles, but the senior running back didn't let two mistakes keep him down, and the Mustang defense?was fired up?in the second half, slamming the door on Bonneville to lead Mountain Crest to a 16-6 victory in the Region 5 opener.

Knowles bounced back from two special-teams miscues to carry the ball 24 times for 145 yards and a touchdown, appropriately crediting his offensive line for paving the way. Mountain Crest's defensive unit forced three turnovers in the second half, one of which resulted in a touchdown.

Knowles fumbled while trying to?fair catch?a punt in the first quarter. Mountain Crest recovered but was pinned at its own 5-yard line. The Mustangs were forced to punt, but Alex Kuresa's kick went out of bounds at the Mustangs' 32.

Bonneville made Mountain Crest pay on the next play. Boston Nelson, in his first start at quarterback, found Sage Stireman in the end zone for a score to give the Lakers a 6-0 lead.

Knowles rebounded and Mountain Crest (4-1) came back?to tie it at 6-all in the second quarter. The senior carried it six times for 75 yards on?a drive, punctuating it with a?40-yard scamper to paydirt.

Kuresa had a pedestrian game by his lofty?standards at quarterback, but the junior boomed a?72-yard punt?late in the first half to keep Bonneville deep in its end of the field and preserve the tied game.

To start the second half, however, Knowles couldn't get the handle on a kickoff, and the Lakers recovered at the Mountain Crest 12-yard line.

Then the Mustang defense began to stand its ground. Raider Lofthouse sacked Nelson to force fourth-and-19. Bonneville elected to go for it, and – who else? – Knowles knocked down Nelson's pass to give Mountain Crest the ball back. The Mustangs got a field goal on the ensuing drive?to take the lead for good.

"I misjudged that kickoff. I thought?it was going to be a lot deeper," Knowles said.?"I just had to put that behind me."

"He doesn't get rattled real easy," Mustang coach Mark Wootton said of Knowles.

Mountain Crest gave itself a bigger cushion on Bonneville's next offensive?series, as linebacker Mallin Brough, who had an?outstanding game on defense,?picked off Nelson and took it 65 yards the other way for a touchdown.

Bonneville (2-3)?– which has?tested its mettle against three 5A Region 1 teams this season – found its way to the red zone again when Nelson hit Nick Toller for a 36-yard gain down to the Mustangs' 17. But Mountain Crest's 'D' again came up big when Tyler Weese picked off Nelson in the end zone.

"We challenged them at halftime," Wootton said of his defense. "(We) told them if they don't give up a point, they can win the game."

Knowles, Kuresa and Josh Ebanez?combined to?run out the last 7:04 of the game for the Mustangs, who are ranked No. 7 in the state.