By Trevor Phibbs - Deseret News - Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009

SANDY — When one walks into the southwest entrance at Alta High School, they're instantly met with football posters emblazoned on the wall, encouraging students to attend football games.

It doesn't take two guesses to figure out what sport encompasses the hearts of the Hawks.

Prep rallies are regular occurrences, and such events have helped skyrocket attendance on Friday nights to maximum capacity. Guest speakers, including legendary BYU coach LaVell Edwards and Utah sideline reporter Sharrieff Shah, make appearances every Thursday throughout the season to motivate arguably the state's premier high school football program.

With such undeniable support, players are catapulted into great expectations and responsibilities that are sometimes unreasonable. The program's current success has made the pressure gauge hit critical. Winning is the only option, and players are fully aware that anything less than a state championship can be considered a failed season.

"Our goal coming into the season as a team, and as individuals, is to repeat as conference champions and to win a state championship," said Alta head coach Les Hamilton, "So there's always that pressure, it's just a matter of how you deal with it."

During the Hamilton era at Alta, every team has made it to at least the state semifinals at Rice Eccles Stadium.

In 2006, the Hawks were the runners-up after losing by two points in the championship game; they would follow that heartbreak with back-to-back state championships in 2007 and 2008.

During the three-year span, Alta has transformed itself into "Quarterback High" after producing three All-State signal-callers. Ryan Rosenvall, who currently plays at Middle Tennessee State University, and Ammon Olsen, who signed with Southern Utah University, both won 5A MVP during their time at Alta.

This year is no different with Jordan Brown.

Brown is an extraordinary two-sport athlete. He's been the starting point guard for the basketball team since his sophomore year, and if he would have attended most any other high school, he could have done the same in football.

However, unlike other quarterbacks in the state, the weight of an entire town weighs directly on his shoulders, and if that isn't enough, he's consistently being compared to his predecessors at his respected position.

"(He's) going to be compared to the standard that was set before him. The Ammon Olsens and the Ryan Rosenvalls were state champions and state MVPs in their classification. I know that's Jordy's goal also, and he knows he can't do it alone," stated Hamilton. "As far as the long line of great quarterbacks at Alta High, he's right in there with them."

Just like his predecessors, Brown possesses the same qualities that not only can make him a college quarterback, but also a high school state champion. He's got tremendous decision-making skills, elusiveness out of the pocket along with dual-threat capabilities — but, most importantly a desire to win.

"I'm just like everyone else," said Brown, "I want to go out on top and be remembered as the quarterback that took his team to the state championship and won it all."

When asked about individual accolades, and how important they are to his legacy, Brown simply had to giggle. He later would explain how individual glory doesn't matter and winning is the only priority.

After the team's first region loss since Oct. 7, 2005, to the Brighton Bengals, the Hawks have discovered a sense of urgency — realizing that another setback could have major implications in their playoff seeding.

With that being said, Brown is currently in an unfavorable situation. During the Lone Peak game, he sustained a second-degree AC separation in his non-throwing shoulder — more noticeably recognized as the same injury that befell the Oklahoma Sooners' Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford. The time frame on such an injury is typically 2-4 weeks, but Brown feels like he'll be healed and ready to play for the Hawks when they travel to Pleasant Grove for what is shaping up to be a historic matchup.

If Alta were to fall to Pleasant Grove the last regular-season game of the year, the Hawks could easily find themselves in a three-way tie with Brighton and Lone Peak for second place in Region 4 — leaving playoff seeding to the luck of a coin-flip. If the Hawks drew the short end of the stick and entered the postseason as the league's fourth seed, their first-round playoff game would read: Alta at Bingham — which isn't exactly an ideal matchup for either program.

It goes without saying that the Hawks need their star quarterback healthy if they expect to repeat as state champions. With Brown's return, he'll look to join the ranks of the greats and uphold those great expectations for being a quarterback at Alta High.

The best way to do so is simple: Win a state championship.