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Show i Braves edge Vikes, 14-13, in finale thriller C By TOM HARALDSEN News Editor ft BOUNTIFUL Perhaps senior Aikc Horsley expressed it best in the Bountiful High locker room, a ivery jubilant locker room, following follow-ing Friday night's victory over ;Viewmont. With hands raised he exclaimed, "We're gonna practice tomorrow." tomor-row." His teammates all cheered jn agreement. i Moments earlier, it was Horsley who made a leaping over-the-shoulder catch of a pass from halfback half-back Sharif Hadley for a two-point conversion that lifted the Braves to a 14-13 victory over the Vikings, and moved Bountiful into a first-round first-round playoff game this week with Pearfield. ! There was never a doubt that the Braves would try for the two-point conversion should they score, as this would be a close one. Bountiful Bounti-ful and Viewmont run the same offenses for the most part, and Wall and Viewmont coach Don Yanowsky worked together for two years before the latter took over the top spot with the Vikes this year. Neither team moved the ball on their first series, and Viewmont could not do any better on its second series. On a fourth down punt play, the snap sailed over Viking Vik-ing punter David Lauder's head, and by the time he recovered and kicked left footed, the Braves had the ball on the Viewmont 29. Seven plays later, quarterback Aaron Kendrick scored from the five, but Wid Covey's PAT was blocked, and Bountiful led 6-0 with 2:33 in the first. Viewmont drove for a go-ahead TD midway through the second quarter, but not without some controversy. con-troversy. The Vikes began at their from deep in its own territory to midfield before having to punt. Viewmont took over at its 13, and behind Smoot and Larsen, moved to the Bountiful five. The key play was a pass from Smoot to Jared Blauer of 22 yards. But the drive bogged down, and on third and goal from the seven, Smoot's pass was picked off at the five by Bountiful' Dave Barnes, who returned it to the 20, lulling the threat. Viewmont answered with an interception in-terception of its own, this time Allen Freestone picking off a Kendrick Ken-drick aerial at the Brave's 4. This set up the Vike's second TD. Larson picked up seven yards, Wilson one and Smoot four for a first down. But as the fourth quarter quar-ter began, the Vikes, now at the Bountiful 29, lined up in a spread formation, a la the University of Utah's famed "Daffy Duck." Smoot took the snap and rambled "It was slippery out there, and my pass was kind of wobbly," Hadley recalled afterwards. "I just was hoping Horlsey would catch it. It's a play we've been working on all year." For Horsley, it was a thrill not only because of what it meant, but because, "I've only caught one other pass all year. I wasn't worried wor-ried about whether I could catch it, I was worried about staying in-bounds." in-bounds." But he did, and now the Braves move on for a rematch with Clearfield, Clear-field, a team that beat Bountiful badly during UEA week. That game is now slated for Friday at 3 p.m. at Clearfield. But, as Wall told his troops after Friday's game, "This isn't a UEA game, this isn't for practice this time." Viewmont ended the year with a 2-7 record, but certainly played well enough to win Friday night. Bountiful began its march to the playoffs with an 80-yard, 10-play drive with 4:01 left in the game. Coach Larry Wall said afterwards, ''that was our thinking all the way down the field. Viewmont had been beating us up front all night, and we felt we could make our two-point two-point pass play work. Besides, there's nothing automatic about a single point, as was shown tonight." Indeed, both teams missed kick conversions during the evening, which began in a slight rain, and ended with the crowd on both sides sitting on the edge of their seats. ; It became apparent early on that 42, moving to the Bountiful 14 behind be-hind the running of quarterback Shandell Smoot and running backs James Wilson and Matt Larsen. On a third-and-five play, Smoot threw a pass to the goal line, where Bountiful Boun-tiful was whistled for pass interference. interfer-ence. It was a close call, and despite Brave protests, the Vikes got a first down at the seven. Smoot carried twice, scoring from the two. Lauder's Laud-er's PAT made it 7-6 with 2:26 to play. A final Bountiful series ended as the gun sounded. The third quarter opened with each team putting together a sustained sus-tained drive. Bountiful moved to the 16, despite more protests from the Braves' side that Viewmont View-mont had more than one man in motion. From the 16, Wilson gained 12 yards in two carries to the four, where Viewmont had a first-and-goal. Smoot carried to the one, Wilson dove to the goal line, and on third down, Smoot spun out of one tackle tack-le and swept around the left side for a score to make it 13-6 with 9:15 left. Lauder's PAT, however, was just wide to the right, leaving a small opening for the Braves. Bountiful began its march to the playoffs after Lauder just missed a 61 -yard field goal attempt. The talented Viewmont kicker has hit three very long field goals this year, and this one was a little short and a bit wide. Still, the Braves had 80 yards to go and 4:01 left to do it. A pass interference call gave Bountiful a 15 yard gain. Mike Bearnson picked up three yards', Hadley eight and Bearnson another three to the 49. On second down, Ryan Jacobs took an eight-around eight-around pitch, then stepped back and hit Mike Thompson for a 29-yard 29-yard gainer to the Viewmont 22. After a short pickup by Bearnson, Bearn-son, Hadley was stopped at the 20 on second down, but an unsportsmanlike unsport-smanlike conduct penalty moved the ball to the 10, and gave the Braves a first-and-goal with just over a minute left. Kendrick kept to the six, Bearnson carried to the one, and, with 39 seconds left, Kendrick went in over left tackle to make it 13-12. Bountiful never hesitated on its conversion decision. The Braves' lined up, Kendrick pitched to Hadley, Had-ley, who threw a wobbly pass to Horsley in the back corner of the end zone for a play they'll both never forget. |