Alta opens playoffs with narrow win

The Utah high school state football playoffs started tonight and, unfortunately, there were no real upsets.

I was at the Fremont at Alta game and, while Fremont put up a good fight, it was all Alta in the second half. The Hawks won 38-14 to advance toward what could be their third straight 5A state championship.

There were a couple of games that surprised me. Syracuse beat Skyline 31-7 and Delta whipped Judge Memorial 41-7. Those would have been my upset picks. I found later, however, that Skyline's RB - Algernon Brown - was injured in the first quarter and didn't play after that. Judge? Well, Judge hasn't played to its potential all year.

The game I was at was played Alta. It was a cold afternoon, thanks to a southerly wind that finally died down at halftime. You can read my game story in the Deseret News, but here are the highlights.

Fremont played well. For being the fifth seed from Region 1, the Silverwolves had Alta worried. Fremont's QB, Brody Garr, played a great game. Fremont scored its first touchdown on a fake field goal, where Garr took a pitch and hit 6-foot-6 Tate Lewis wide open for a touchdown.

That gave Fremont some momentum. They lost it a while later when Alta when a big QB sack turned into a safety a couple of plays later. Garr was at his best when he got rid of the ball quickly. But he was sacked for a 17-yard loss. Then, under heavy pressure, he threw the ball away from the end zone. There were no receivers in the area so the referees awarded Alta two points. It was a legitimate call.

To make a long story short, Fremont scored on a nice screen pass to take a 14-12 lead, but there was still over a minute left. Alta doesn't need much time, and QB Jordan Brown led a nice drive that culminated with a 9-yard TD pass to Tyron Morris.

The score was 20-14 at halftime, and the second half was dull. Alta dominated, on both offense and defense. The Hawks scored on their first possession and, the way their defense was playing, the game was never in doubt.

I have to admit ... I like upsets. I also like close games. So, maybe I'm a bit one-sided on this subject. I appreciate Fremont giving Alta a decent game. That's the fan in me. I like the NCAA basketball tournament for that reason.

But Alta was obviously the better team. The Hawks had too many penalties, but it didn't make a difference in the game. Here are a few things I noticed:

* - Alta's offensive and defensive lines dominated. They held Fremont to minus-41 yards rushing, thanks to six sacks. On offense, Alta rushed for 243 yards. If that's not a season high, I'll be surprised.

* - Alta has great receivers, but my favorite is No. 10 - Tyron Morris. It was no surprise that's who Brown often threw to when he needed to make a play. Morris caught a 9-yard TD pass late in the second quarter that was one of the big plays of the game.

* - Late in the game, a funny thing occurred. Brown got the snap, faked to a running back, and then went sprinting to the right. Most of the Fremont players (and the fans) followed the running back and ... well .. so did most of the officials. When he was tackled, a referee blew his whistle. At the same time, Brown was running with the ball and was eventually tackled near the sideline after a short gain. Then an official threw a flag as they tried to figure out what happened. Turns out it was a great fake. The officials didn't know what to do, so they called a "do over." I've never seen that happen before. Great fake, Jordy.

* - Fremont should be congratulated. The Silverwolves were obviously outclassed. Alta has too many talented players. But Fremont played within itself and didn't make many mistakes, so it stayed close. Alta coach Les Hamilton told me later that coach Bosgieter was a great coach who won a state championship at Weber back in 1998. I never confirmed that, but it makes sense.

Alta knew it was in a game. I kept statistics during the game, and here they are:

Fremont 7 7 0 0 - 14
Alta 7 13 8 10 - 38

A – Jordan Brown 1 run (Vance Bingham kick)
F – Tate Lewis 20 pass from Brody Garr (Corey Craynor kick)
A – FG Bingham 39
A – Safety, intentional grounding penalty in end zone
F – Nick Vigil 17 pass from Garr (Craynor kick)
A – Tyron Morris 9 pass from Brown (Brown run)
A – Brown 5 run (Morris pass from Brown)
A – FG Bingham 24
A – Bryan Finnerty 2 run (Bingham kick)

Team statistics

First downs: Alta 28, Fremont 12
Rushes-yards: Alta 47-243, Fremont 15(-41)
Passing yards: Alta 213, Fremont 216
Passes: Alta 17-24-1, Fremont 21-35-2
Fumbles lost: Alta 0-0, Fremont 0-0
Penalties: Alta 12-143, Fremont 5-39
Punts: Alta 1-45.0, Fremont 5-34.8

Individual statistics

RUSHING: Alta – Eyring 18-99, Finnerty 16-71, Brown 9-49, Liston 1-13, Jefferson 3-11. Fremont – Vigil 5-8, Wilson 1-1, Bitton 1-(-1), Stucki 1-(-6), Garr 7-(-43).

PASSING: Alta – Brown 17-24-1-213. Fremont Garr 21-35-2-216.

RECEIVING: Alta- Mayne 5-87, Morris 4-61, Liston 4-40, Sylvester 2-14, Eyring 1-8, Brady 1-6. Fremont – Lewis 5-62, Bitton 5-44, Vigil 4-54, Craner 4-30, Willie 3-25.