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Show i K, i. -- California Connection By DAVE WIGHAM WOODS CROSS He didn't get to the school until after sophomore football was over. But senior Matt Harmer has fit right in and contributed to the success of the Wildcat team this year. MATT WAS born in Los Angeles but as a youngster the family moved to Sacramento. As a ninth and tenth grader he was a starter on the line for his school team. But then, after the football season was over his sophomore sopho-more year, his father moved his business to Utah and they made Bountiful their home. "I GUESS you could say I fit right in when we moved here," admitted Matt, "the kids were all really nice to me. They had played as a unit before but they figured as long as I helped the team I was one of them." When he showed up at Woods Cross he was about 6' I" and 170 pounds, tall and lanky to say the least. "Football "Foot-ball was over but the coaches talked to me and got me in a weight lifting class. All along they would talk to me a little about the type of offense and defense they ran so 1 soon became be-came familiar with their program." BY THE time football rolled around as a junior. Matt was ready. He started both ways, for the J.V. team and played enough varsity ball to earn his letter. Last year he was a defensive de-fensive end. As a senior the coaches moved Matt back inside to a tackle spot. "I guess my size had something to do with it. Scott (Grossenbach) and I are about the biggest starters we have on the team." Indeed at 6'3" and 190 pounds he is one of the biggest Cats. THE COACHES at Woods Cross make no bones about Matt's big plus in playing this sport. "My quickness is what the coaches like," noted Matt. "Face it, with my size I'm not going to overpower many folks." Larry Eldracher, the new head man for the Cats, calls this big guy "one of the quickest tackles I've coached." Last year Matt took up wrestling at the school and contributes that to much of his quickness in football. "The football coaches told me wrestling would help and I believe be-lieve it did. I wrestled about ten pounds under my weight but hope to improve this season." AT FIRST Mass wasn't sure about the move to Utah but it didn't take him long to decide. "I didn't think I'd like it up here. 1 knew I would start in football in California because I had established myself. After about two weeks, though, I loved it here." Mr. Harmer went on to talk about the differences in California Cali-fornia and Utah football. "Up here it's more exciting for the schools because of all the rivalries. rival-ries. There are more people in California so there are more good athletes. In California they have their superstars who won't work together as a team. They play better as a team up here." THE CATS still have a chance at a state berth but Matt would like to have at least one game back. "In the Viewmont View-mont loss we didn't have our heads in it at all. We all figured all we had to do w as show up to win. 1 honestly think we can get it together again and play up to our full potential." Matt would like to play some junior college football when his high school days are over and he definitely has the ability to do so. Righ now, though, the California connection connec-tion is still working hard to help the Cats get into the state tournament for their first time. |