High school football: Sloppy-but-successful Alta wins despite penalty-fest

SANDY — If it is possible to be deadly efficient and yet incredibly sloppy at the same time, seventh-ranked Alta found a way Friday night in its 23-7 win over No. 4 Lone Peak.

Alta quarterback Jordan Brown was the efficient part as he completed over 75 percent of his passes, going 15-of-19 for 248 yards and three touchdowns before leaving late in the third quarter with a dinged-up shoulder. However, the sloppy came as the Hawks committed a staggering 17 penalties for 162 yards.

"I have never seen anything like that," said Alta coach Les Hamilton. "We had some holds, some offsides, some false starts, some late hits. We really need to be more disciplined. I will take that on me, that is something we are going to have to correct."

Alta rebounded nicely after losing its first region game last week since October of 2005. It started the game about as well as could be hoped. The defense forced a fumble on Lone Peak's first offensive play from scrimmage, and three plays later, Brown hooked up with wide receiver Zach Liston from 31 yards for an early seven-point lead.

The Brown to Liston hookup was a combination that will probably give the Knights nightmares for the next week. The duo connected six times for 111 yards and two scores.

"Jordie and I have a great chemistry," Liston said. "We have a pretty good feel for what the other is thinking, and I love running my route just knowing that he is going to put the ball in the right place for me to make a play."

Lone Peak consistently had no answer for Liston, but that may be a problem many teams encounter.

"I think he is probably the top playmaker in the state," said Hamilton. "We have other guys that can step up, so you can't focus too much on Zach, but he just makes plays for us. He can run, he can catch, he does it all for us."

The defense held the Knights' attack in check. In the first half, the Lone Peak possession chart was dismal. It had three punts — a fourth attempted punt resulted in an Alta safety from a bad snap — and two fumbles.

Alta, meanwhile, moved the ball. Liston and Brown scored on a 37-yard pass play, and the Hawks took a 23-0 lead before the half when they used a nine-play, 99-yard drive to score with 1:17 remaining on a Tyron Morris five-yard touchdown catch.