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Show Braves face season challenge in Musfanas strength and quickness from their roles as all-state wrestlers when they're not playing football. Springville's running back John Penrod seemed almost as overpowering over-powering as Bountiful 's Chris Jones rushing for an average of 1 80 yards per game. The Mustangs held Penrod to only 38 yards on 20 carries. It goes without saying that this game will be won or lost at the line of scrimmage. Whoever can control the 12-inch neutral zone will win the game. Mountain Crest tries to contain its opponent's offense and funnel it into the arms of its defensive front. However, this tactic isnt fail proof, Bear River beat the Mustangs running runn-ing straight ahead. Bountiful's advancement to the state finals rests on the capable shoulders of its powerful offensive lineman that have managed to open passing routes. To shut down the Mustangs' passing attack, Bountiful's Boun-tiful's fleet-footed defensive backs will have to capitalize on Larsen's indecision. The Braves' defensive line will also need to keep Larsen off balance with a strong rush. Mountain Crest opponents have been successful stacking the defensive defen-sive line, stunting and shooting the gaps. If Larsen does hesitate and the rush is there, the Bountiful backfield should have another interception heyday. The Mustangs also have a solid ground game highlighted by the one-two punch of sophomore tailback Ryan Pond and short yardage yar-dage specialist Joel Goodman who is a 63", 205-pound fullback. Pond is especially dangerous when he breaks into the open field. Although he measures only 511" and weighs in at 175, the Mustangs love to give him the ball. In fact. ' t & w fc tf lA. Villi 1 k f J&y-;: ll 1 1 .- -fAi S rl 1 I I )t - m,y(y - ' 'ill I SlW'h' -'V V'V; ;,'-f 111 I WifW' I ill -err w X V f . -1 ' By G.BRETT HART BOUNTIFUL-With an impressive im-pressive 27-7 win over Emery last Friday, the Braves have not only earned the right to play in the 3A football semifinals, they've earned a chance to face a team that may be able to give them a battle. Bountiful will square off with the Mountain Crest Mustangs Saturday on the carpet of Rice Stadium at the University of Utah at 5 p.m. The Mustangs boast a 7-3 record and won a second place finish in Region Five at the end of regular season play. After a slow start, Mountain Crest came to life demolishing Box Elder, Logan and Skyview-then they faced Bear River. In spite of a stand-off at halftime, the Bears second se-cond half explosion destroyed the Mustangs, a loss from which Mountain Moun-tain Crest was slow to recover, until the playoffs anyway. The Mustangs punished previously unbeaten Springville 20-7 to earn the right to be the next team to try to end the Braves' state championship hunt Facing Mountain Crest will be like looking in the mirror for the Braves. This is one of the first teams Bountiful will face with an attack as varied and versatile as its own, not to mention a defense that (on paper at least) looks as big and as physical as the Braves' does. Offensively, the Braves will have to "out-quick" the Mustang defense led by tackles Walter Fiefia at 6'3", 250 pounds; Matt Funk at 64", 225 pounds and nose guard Cody Lofthouse, 62", 215 pounds. All three double as offensive lineman and derive much of their gaping holes for Jones to run through all year. On the other side of the football, the Bountiful defense will have to stop varied Mustang offensive attack. at-tack. Junior quarterback Ray Larsen leads the Mustangs attack. At 6'3" he can easily see over his tall offensive line to keep an eye on his receivers. Larsen's favorite target is wide receiver Robert Thomas, who scored two touchdowns against Springville. Mountain Crest likes to go to Thomas when they need a big play. Though generally effective, Larsen's passing attack is not without fault. Larsen tends to hold onto the ball too long and sometimes has trouble picking up his secondary receivers under pressure. Mountain Crest has tried to correct this by running shorter one of Mountain Crest's most dangerous plays is a Larsen screen pass to Pond set up by a few deep passes. Finally, if the game is close, the Mustangs have one last card to play in kicker Kirk Schroeder. With P ATs being almost automatic, Schroeder is able to contribute to Mountain Crest's scoring ability three points at a time. Schroeder hit a 38-yard field goal against Springville. His longest of the season sailed 53 yards. Though the teams match up evenly, even-ly, Bountiful is at least a two-touchdown two-touchdown favorite. The momentum momen-tum of the Braves' perfect season and Bountiful's ability to control the line of scrimmage should propel the Braves into the state finals. At any rate, it won 't be an easy victory for either team by any means. y iVHHBVOT1jHmilQm The BravesMustang match up Saturday will feature two evenly matched, versatile teams. If the Braves' lineman can control the line of scrimmage and free premier running back Chris Jones (32), they should sail into the state finals. |