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Show Ba TheSalt Lake Tribune PREP FOOTBALL Weber Nips Bountiful Saturday, November20, 1999 —— Can Emery Break Coin-Toss Jinx Vs. Snow Canyonfor 3-A Crown? In 4-A Final BY JAY DREW ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE @ Continued from B-1 Thetitle is the second for the Warriors, who won in 1985. The Braves outgained the them 286 yards to 155 but paid with Weber's their backs and beat Millard 23-0 for the 1987 Class 2-A title. Both coaches said Emery's winningthe coin toss big plays andbighits. Weber's physical nature broke up Bountiful’s offensive vibe as the Braves had to use four quarterbacks becauseofinjuries. The andgetting the wind advantageearly on that cold and wet November day at Mountain View High was the deciding factor. whenthe Spartanslost a coin toss determining where today’s Class 3A championship game would be played. Snow Canyon won the toss and selected touchdown with a fumble recov- had lobbied for the gameto be at Mountain View. Kickoff is at ! p.m. at SUU’s Eccles Coliseum. Emery’s Jimmy Jones, who wasalso the winning coach in 1987 — Emery’s only previousstate title game appearance — says Snow Canyon (10-1) will eter said. “We've ridden our de. fense all year, andit was nosecret its 48 with 1:40 remaining,trailing bya field goai. havea slight advantage, because the Warriors stayed Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune Weber's Jon Graves signals the touchdownto his benchafter catching a fourth quarter TD pass as Bountiful defender Cameron Jensen looks on. Weber topped Bountiful 17-14 for the Ciass 4-A state crown. The Braves had scored minutes earlier to make overtime a possibility. But with the game on the line, Weber forced two incomplete passes, including one that was nearly intercepted by Dennis Conroy. Weberhada little luck on the next two downs as Bountiful’s CameronJensen and Matt Ramos both slipped after catching passes defenseall year, and it wasno secret that thatis the strength of this team. They never let up.” Coach Weber cecammsoo saying, that they were going to “I knew I was goingtocatchit,” win, and weateit up. That is what Graves said. “That is a popular play for us.” predictions, too. And Bountiful seemingly couldaffordtotalk. The Braves were undefeated and had a defense that could match the Warriors and an offense with little morevariation. But the Braves fumbled twice ontheir first drive and five times in the game, losing one. That turnover wasa big one as Bountiful quarterback Seth Patterson hadtheball simply fall out of his While Bailey's uniform looked crisp and clean, Bountiful's quar: terbacks were knocked aroundall day. Patterson took a hit after run- ning for a touchdown in thesecond quarter and left with a hip pointer and back spasms. Erik Soderberg replaced him, but he left shortly afterward with a brokenfinger. Junior Mark Nelson played somein the second quarter, as did hand ashe went back to pass. Anthony Vance in the third. Patterson came in and out, but wasn'teffective as usual. right corner of the end zone to make it 17-8 with 5:16 remaining. that endedin a 5-yard touchdown pass to RobStark, makingit 17-14. Weber's J.D. Hall recovered on the 7 and, twoplays later, Mike Railey found Jon Graves in the for the Warriors while Ben Henry and MarkMiller each had 10. Bountiful coach Larry Wali said the injuries hurt the Braves the most. “We never could get into our offense,” he said. “We were in damagecontrol half the game.” Which was Weber's game plan ail along. Secretor nosecret. Kory Bosgieter “This is the greatest feeling in we wanted to hear.” Buswell had madehis shareof Scott finished with 16 tackles a “There was no quit in this team. We've ridden our andfailed to make first down, allowing the Warriors to start their celebration. the world,” said Weber senior Ashton Buswell, who had 14 tackles. “Weheard what Bountiful was He did engineer a late drive Weber 3086-17 Bountiful 0806-14 Pirst Quarter MeerMinna 9 cond Quarter oul Patan 654 Weber Scot 4intercrpion return (alley run, som? Fourth Quarter Weber Graves 6 pass fromBailey (kick blocked! Sountul-Sark 5 pass from Pateran (hick fent Weber 8 Bountiful i s7107 1g 24 6 33 51 445 3148 Comp Att Int Return Yards Punts Ave Fumbles Last Penalties Yarls ‘Timeof Possession INDIVINUAL LEADERS RUSHING—Weber, Bailey 4170, Garcia 6180, Broadbent36-0, Huswell 55-0; Bountiful, Jensen 1485.0, Ramos 12614, Patterson15-991, ber. Bailey 13:20, Patterson 12 ber, Graves 6554, Call 4189, 0, Olsen 1-60, Bountiful, Gubler 3:20, Jensen $280, Nordfors 2360, Stark 213-1, Ramos 290, Skyline Makes Case As Best Eagle Squad Ever onship gameof the century concluded Friday night with a question perhaps as complex as the Y2K dilemma. Was Skyline’s 1999 team the best ever? The 13-0 Eagles madetheir case, notjust with their 49-18 winover Taylorsville, but with their dominance in the playoffs and the regular season “There have been some great Skyline teams before us,” quarterback Brandon Van Leeuwensaid. “We just wanted to carry on thetradition.” In four state playoff games, the Eagles scored 190 . They ledthestatein scoring margin (29.5) and the closest another team cameto them was seven points (Clearfield). “It was a storybook year for Skyline football,” coach Roger DuPaix said When asked if this was his best Skyline team, Du Paix said, “Boy, it is sure looking like that. We don’t have any gamesleft, either.” Some numbers from Skyline’s win over Taylorsville 4 The Eagles hadfour personal-foul penalties, whichhas to be astate record @ 124 The numberof players Skylinedressed 204 Number of pushups done by Skyline cheerleaders their team scored Friday M3 Skyline linebacker Braden Sudbury had a pair of gigantic hits, one on Matt Barclay and the other on Shane Christensen, Skyline’s Zane Bechtold added a de-cleater on a kickoff return. “I love impact,” Sudbury said 4 OLD TIMES Deven Coggins, a tight end for Weber in 1985, pointed out similarities between Friday's 4-A cham pionshipteamandhis own squad. “Theheart that we both hadis so similar,” Coggins said The Warriors were motivated in 1985 by dedicat ing their year to Dave Hogan, a tailback who died af ter their second game. The ‘99 Warriors rallied after receiver Ty Sparrow fractured his leg in their first playoff game against West. Both teams wontheir championship games 17-14, but offensive lineman Ryan Means was most excited about another simi larity. “I'm going to get a ring like yours,” Means shouted while embracing Coggins, Q PROUD SPARROW Sparrow saidit was tough watching his teammates “Yousit here watching, and you do moves for the guys whoarein there in your place,” Sparrow said. “You boband weavefor them.” Watching the gameoncrutches, Sparrow said Jon Graves, Clint Olsen and Mark Miller did an out ) on Sept. 10 in St. George when the teams met in the regular season. Snow Canyonblistered Emery with more than 450 total yards and beai the Spartans32-13, Emery’s only loss. Emery’s best player, Zac Sharp, wasill that day and played sparingiy. Snow Canyon’s only loss wasa 26-7 setback to Provo, a 4-A semifinalist. “Weare not making excuses,” Jones said. “Snow Canyonwasthebetter team that particwar night. We tough, inside rushing yards. And Emery quarterback BradStilson is playing better in directing the option attack, Jonessaid Sharp leadsthe defensein tacklesfromhis linebacker spot. Snow Canyon, a sixth-year school, is playinginits third state championship game the Warriors the 1996 title afterfalling to Delta in theis No. 1 Warriors are the favorites, three playoff opponents by a combined “Weset a goal every year to win a region champi onship anda state championship,” said Snow Canyon coach Bill Jacobsen, who has hintedthat this maybe hislast game.“That's still our goal.” Region 2 MVP, left tackle Jess Hacker(6-feet-4, 240) pounds), leads a SC offensiveline thatis the be: thestate. The line has enabled runningbacks Da: Hill, Landon Lounsbury and Danny Fiiimoeatu to run for lots of yards. Quarterback Scott Jensen has didn't slow them downdefensively atall. We moved theballpretty good,four or five decent drives, but we hadplentyoftimeto throwto Garrett Jacobsen. could never stop them.” Jones promises an improved Emery team. The Spartans have picked up offensively since Bret Ben- average. “Theyare so versatile,” Jonessaid. “They can run inside and outside and they can throw theball real playoffs. He gives them outside speed and has responded with three 100-plus rushing gam harp, a . Wewill have to come up with some defen: sive wrinkles to siow them down. Wehope thereare some things we can doto give us a chanceto s nett moved from wide receiver to tailback for the the state’s rushing touchdownleader,still gets the Snow Canyonleadsthe state in scoring with a 41.9 hem.” Rolls to One MoreState Title @ Continued from B-1 Taylorsville had just 48 yards in thefirst half, 175 in the game. But the Warriors did not walk off thefield disappointed. They made their presence felt with some trademark Region 2 hits — “We punishment from them,” said DuPaix gota thrill- ing, championship game-record 99-yard kickoff return from Ryan Filipe and finished their best sea- son ever at 9-4. “Their speed killed us,” said Taylorsville coach Brad Molen. Levi Negley ("our unsung hero,” SEEING AND SLIDING he weather wasperfect for football Friday, but all fale teams had problemswiththe slippery surface at Rice-Ecch adium. Every year, high schoolers have a hardtime getting usedto the different grass. Bountiful seemed especiallyaffected. The Braves’ ball car- said DuPaix), Niu Luamanuvae, AdamBuie and Brian Herrscher, they had big rushing games from rierslipped on three oftheir finalfourplays.“It was Van Leeuwen, Brad Jenson (107 yards), junior Matt Cannon (next year’s star) and RobSirstins(56). Jenson, who hasbeena part of four state championships as the fors said. “It seemed like it was wet, but it wasn’t.” 4 first four-year letterman in Eagle lore, opened the scoring with a 53yard touchdown run and had a 5- hardto get traction,” Bountiful receiver K.C. Nord- LOOSE GUY Mike Bailey, Weber's junior quarterback, might be the loosest guy on the sidelines every game. Although he hada nice game, completing 13-of-22 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown, Bailey acted as if he was in a friendly neighborhood gameat thepark yard TD run in the second half. Cannonhada 51-yard TDrun,part ofhis 99 total yards, andSirstins a 25-yarderfor six. “There's nothinglikeit, there’s nothing likeit,” Sirstins screamed as Skyline students and patrons Bailey introduced himself to strangers on the stormedthe field in celebration. “Wecametogetherlike brothers, withthetrainer and said, “I could really use a Pepsi.” we came together stronger than 4 SOME BRAVE BRAVES Not many state finalists in thestate's largest clas sifications play as many two-way players as Bountiful did Friday. Cameron Jensen, Jake Knighton, Wes Patterson, Erik Soderber, ny Katoa, K.C. Nordfors and ey Gubler started on both sides of the ball. Knighton played on the offensive and defensive lines with acaston his left arm, as he has done for the previous nine games 4 weeverhave.” Another junior, Steve Tate, had a 54-yard interception return for a touchdowntolead the defensive t charge. Braden Sudbury applied Danny La/The Salt Lake Tribu Skyline’s Rob Sirstens blowspast Taylorsville’s Matt Barclay to score yet another Eagle touchdownFriday at Rice-Eccles Stadium. some of his trademark big hits, Levi Bills, Jonny Matich, Quinn Longhurst and Troy Maxfield had sacks, Bo Nagahi and Ryan Terry knocked down passes and Justin Hansen,Fritz Fui and Jeff Sokol stuffed the run, holding Taylorsville to 112 yards on the ground. Richard Davis and Nagahi had catches, as Skyline threw only six times, “It's a great day to be Eagle,” said Maxfield. Taylorsville 0 Skyline 5 juarter Skyline Jenson 58 run (Woodbury run), 57 Skyline Sirstins 26 run (Reiser kick), 512 Quarter Taylorsville Christensen 9 run (runfailed), 5:19 Skyline. VanLeeuwen 22 run (Reiser kick), 256 Skyline Tate$6 interception return (Van Leew 00 Rosetta: Eagles Know Their History {@ Continued from B-1 line when hereturned a kickoff for a touchdown from the goal line in the second quarter. However, there was some argument as to whether the return was for century with a decadelike no other team’s since old 99 yardsor100. Salt! Lake High dominated thefirst 10 years. ‘ie Eagles’ conquest of the 5A tournament's “Cinderella” Taylorsville Warriors picked fourth in Region 2 and Weber's come-from-behind, 17-14 kickoff returns is 99, held by many players. Filipe victory that spoiled Bountiful unbeaten season spilled over with memories for a lifetime. caught the ball with his heels onthe goal line, so the ball never actually entered the end zone. Theofficial statistics list the return as 100 yards, even though technically, that isn’t possible. Filipe didn’t care about technicalities, and wasjust happyto have something good comeout of the game. It was his only touchdownreturnthis year, “I've been waiting for something like that,” hesaid, “It was just good to be here and playing a team like Skyline.” Q GLIMPSE INTO FUTURE Skyline graduates some great playmakers, includ ing Brad Jenson, Brandon Van Leeuwen and Bo Na gahi, but they will be fine next year with Matt Cannon leading a group of talented returning players. The juniorfinished with10 rushes for 99 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown Walk with me a moment @ Bountiful, striving for its own 13-0 campaign andthe school’sfirst statetitle since 1991, needed four quarterbacks in its attempt ‘Skyline Jenson 5run (Reiser kick), 10:36 Taslrsvile- Pipe 10 yardkick! return fled151 Cannon 51 run (kickfailed), 197 (Reet kick1024 Fourth Quarter Taylorsville- Filipe 1 run (pass failed), 7:46 Skyline Van Leeuwen1 run (hick failed) 90 (Keel kick) ANA Taylorsville Skyline 10 First downs B12 Rushes-yards 45.401 8 Pa 5122 a4 7 M Fumbles Lost 1” Penalties Yards 256 Timeof Possession min INDIVIDUAL LEADERS RUSHING-Taylorsville, Christensen 10.56.) Fy ipe 10391, Bond 13300; Skyline, Van Leeuwen11 1) unnon 10H |, Sirstine 696 1, Chr ING Taykrsil, Schneider 118 Marietta 140-10; Skyline. Van Leeuwen 2609, RECEIVING Taylorwile Rothe, 140, Sw son 194, Praser 194, Barclay 5, Tulbet 100, Sky line, Davis 10, Naagai14 arm sweeping toward his Warrior teammates. “We've been together since North Ogden Junior High and Wahlquist Junior High. We made apact then that we would win astate championship,” said Scott @ There were Warriors Mike Bailey, Jon Graves and Scott pulling out clumpsof grass from thebig red “U" in the end zoneandstuffing theminto their 11 more to come. Friday, the Eagles capped off the High school rules don't allow kickoffs to be re- turned from the end zone, so the state record for Skyline “What a great way to end a great season.” And a great century in 38 history-making years. 99 OR 100? ‘Taylorsville’s RyanFilipe provided one of the few bright moments forthe Warriors in theirloss to Sky. winthe state championship, but vowedto be back for half of the basketball season. homeFriday night before making the hour’s trip from St. George. Emery(11-1) traveled Friday night and stayed at a Cedar Cityhotel. But atleast it won't be nearly 100 degrees, as it was Offensively, Skyline (13-0) had its way, just as in almost every game this season, Using their powerful offensive line of Dahl, sidelines, popped sunflowerseeds in his mouth, joked BY THE NUMBERS standing jobfilling infor him. Manti (12-0) vs. South Summit (11-1) “Our kids got a good look as how fast they really were.” BYJAY DREW, LYA WODRASKA and PE TER RICHINS THE SALT LAKETRIBUNE, Thelast large-school high school football champi points, fora CLASS 2-A TODAY — 11 a.m. At Mountain View High, Orem Southern Utah University in Cedar City, after Emery ery at the 7-yard line. With all that, whocares about stats? “There was no quit in this team,” Weber coach Kory Bosgi- Weber's final defensive stand came whenBountiful took over on CLASS 3A TODAY —1 p.m. At Southern Utah University Emery (11-1) vs. Snow Canyon (10-1) Maybe that is why folks in Castle Dale, Ferron, Huntington and Orangeville saw it as a bad omen Wairior defense scored on a 44yard interception return by Darin Scott and set up the team’s final that that is the strength of this team. They neverlet up.” PREP FOOTBALL STATE FINALS The last time the Emery Spartansplayed in state football championship game, they scored all their pointsin thefirst quarter with a fierce north wind at Seth Patterson, Erik Soderberg, Mark Nelson and Anthony Vance. The image remainsof Pattersonvaliantly trying to rally his team after a hip pointer injury. Andof Sod: erberg rushing back on thefield to assumehis defen sive back spot after doctors mended the compound fractureof the litte finger on his left hand, Andthen Vance, a junior quarterback/defensive end, moving in under center for some snaps. A No. 82 at quarter: back was a first in my lifetime. 1 Weber senior linebacker DarinScott intercepted a third-quarter pass and romped44 yards for a touch down that gave the Warriors an 11-8 lead they wouldn't relinquish. Scott a hero? “They are my heroes,” he said, his shoes. “This represents 15 yearsof waiting for a state title,” said ley, Weber's junior quarterback, who threwtheclinching TD pass in the fourth quarter. @And wasn't that Ryan Filipe of Taylorsville something else when he set sail on a 99-yard kickofl return for a third-quarter touchdown against Sky line? And look at the handof Skylinesenior running back Brad Jenson and visualize four state champi onship rings. Count ‘em four. You can't hi more than that. Yes, as ninth-grader at Churchi Junior High, Jenson good enough to play in Skyline’sstatetitle gamein 1996 against Mountain View “He sailed across the field and tackled a guy whowas running for a TD,” boasted his dad, Brice. Yet, Jenson, whoscored two TDs, optedto recite the academic accomplishments of his teammates. A brilliant student in his own right with a 3.95 grade point average and on the way probably to Brown or Stanford (BYU is still an option), Jenson said seven teammates have4.0 aver But how ‘bout thetitle, Brad, and your personal run of 16-0 in theplayoffs? “Well, that's just Skyline ae It was a dream and aprivilege to be part of ”said Jenson, two state champions, two gritty runners-up and myriad memories. It doesn't get any better than this |
