High school football: Cottonwood takes control early in victory over West

Cottonwood heated up quickly on a cold night.

The Colts had the lead even before their signature no-huddle offense took the field and coasted to a 32-9 win at West in 5A Region 2 football action Wednesday night.

The victory solidified Cottonwood's place atop the region standings with a 3-0 record (5-2 overall).

"It's just one week at a time," Cottonwood coach Cecil Thomas said. "We've got to continue to get better."

Kyle Aberton took the opening kickoff 80 yards to the end zone, giving the Colts a 6-0 advantage.

Cottonwood's defense was aggressive from the outset, with Tama Tuinei and Anthony Lewis recording sacks on each of the Colt's first two series. The second sack forced West into bad field position, and Tana Afeaki's punt gave Cottonwood the ball at the Panther 42.

The Colts quickly took advantage. Stephen Carter took a handoff up the middle, bounced off a couple of tackles and took off for paydirt. Riley Harper added the extra point to make it 13-0.

Cottonwood's next two drives ate up most of what remained of the first half. An 18-play march took nearly 6 minutes off the clock, and Carter added his second score on a 1-yard plunge against a gritty West red-zone defense.

"(West) did concentrate on taking our short stuff away, so that really opened up some stuff in the run game," Thomas said. "They brought a lot more pressure than they have in the past, and we did a good job picking it up — running hard and running through tackles."

After West (3-4, 2-2 Region 2) turned it over on downs at the Cottonwood 24, the Colts gobbled up more than five minutes on 17 plays. Chandler Hudson's 32-yard catch set the Colts up with first-and-goal at the West 2, and the senior wideout had his number called again and caught a 2-yard pass from quarterback Crosby Jensen to make it a 26-0 advantage.

West quarterback Chance Abrath fumbled the snap on the first play of the next series, and Cottonwood cashed in with Harper's 36-yard field goal. Harper added a 40-yarder in the second half to cap Cottonwood's scoring.

It wasn't exactly a flawless performance for the Colts, as they committed five personal foul penalties during the game, giving West a first down each time.

"We've still gotta clean that up," Thomas said of the infractions.

West's defense played well in the second half, taking the ball away twice when Cottonwood marched into Panther territory. Tevita Fangupo made a leaping catch to pick off Jensen in the end zone in the third quarter. West also recovered a Colt fumble in the fourth.

Afeaki, who hurt his left ankle earlier in the game, had the Panthers' lone touchdown on a 47-yard run. West recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, which led to an Alexander Mitkus field goal to finish out the scoring.

Late Utah Jazz owner and West High alumnus Larry H. Miller and his wife, Gail, also a West grad, were honored during a halftime ceremony.

e-mail: rtrishman@desnews.com