By Bill Oram
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated Aug 21, 2010 12:36AM
To believe that a game that started and ended with so much emotion could contain even more in between comes with only one requirement.
That you believe.
Cottonwood scored two touchdowns in 28 seconds Friday to stun Alta 28-21 in a game that, for Cottonwood, was about much more than football.
Linebacker Luke King’s tears disappeared into a thick sheen of sweat, but make no mistake: There were tears. Teko Johnson, who would have coached his first game with the Colts, died last month in New Jersey of an apparent heart attack at 41. Before the game both teams stood in tribute to the dead-too-young coach.
“It’s unbelievable, man,” King said. “It just means so much. It’s crazy.”
Crazy doesn’t begin to describe what went down between two of the favorites in Class 5A. Down 21-14 and facing a game-sealing field goal attempt with 2:22 remaining against Alta on Friday, the Colts easily could have stopped believing. But Anthony Lewis knew that if the ball, by some, wholly unlikely chance, came to him, he would take it back for a touchdown.
He would tie the game.
It’s a pleasantly dramatic notion, the kind that keeps high school sports as competitive and unexpected as it is. But rarely does it happen. It never happens when the team facing defeat needs it most.
But Alta kicker Parker Timmerman’s field goal attempt never got off the ground and jumped into Lewis’ hands. He sprinted 92 yards for the game-tying touchdown.
“I was hoping it would come to me because I knew I would take it back,” he said. “In this team, I’ll always believe.”
Believe this.
On Alta’s next drive, Alta’s first-year starting quarterback, Boston Handley, saw the defense coming, and attempted a jump pass that fluttered down to Cottonwood defensive back Kami Sofele. He promptly went 50 yards for the go-ahead score.
The team, the crowd, both already brimming with emotion, exploded in a way it surely had lost faith it would Friday. That it was the defense that pulled Cottonwood through is even more remarkable. The unit had appeared completely gassed, to a point that Alta running back Taylor Eyring rushed 22 times for 101 yards that he made look easy.
But King’s tears Friday night told the story. Nothing much, for Cottonwood lately, has been easy.
Why should achieving the greatest moment in any of their football-playing lives have been any different?
By Bill Oram
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated Aug 21, 2010 12:36AM
To believe that a game that started and ended with so much emotion could contain even more in between comes with only one requirement.
That you believe.
Cottonwood scored two touchdowns in 28 seconds Friday to stun Alta 28-21 in a game that, for Cottonwood, was about much more than football.
Linebacker Luke King’s tears disappeared into a thick sheen of sweat, but make no mistake: There were tears. Teko Johnson, who would have coached his first game with the Colts, died last month in New Jersey of an apparent heart attack at 41. Before the game both teams stood in tribute to the dead-too-young coach.
“It’s unbelievable, man,” King said. “It just means so much. It’s crazy.”
Crazy doesn’t begin to describe what went down between two of the favorites in Class 5A. Down 21-14 and facing a game-sealing field goal attempt with 2:22 remaining against Alta on Friday, the Colts easily could have stopped believing. But Anthony Lewis knew that if the ball, by some, wholly unlikely chance, came to him, he would take it back for a touchdown.
He would tie the game.
It’s a pleasantly dramatic notion, the kind that keeps high school sports as competitive and unexpected as it is. But rarely does it happen. It never happens when the team facing defeat needs it most.
But Alta kicker Parker Timmerman’s field goal attempt never got off the ground and jumped into Lewis’ hands. He sprinted 92 yards for the game-tying touchdown.
“I was hoping it would come to me because I knew I would take it back,” he said. “In this team, I’ll always believe.”
Believe this.
On Alta’s next drive, Alta’s first-year starting quarterback, Boston Handley, saw the defense coming, and attempted a jump pass that fluttered down to Cottonwood defensive back Kami Sofele. He promptly went 50 yards for the go-ahead score.
The team, the crowd, both already brimming with emotion, exploded in a way it surely had lost faith it would Friday. That it was the defense that pulled Cottonwood through is even more remarkable. The unit had appeared completely gassed, to a point that Alta running back Taylor Eyring rushed 22 times for 101 yards that he made look easy.
But King’s tears Friday night told the story. Nothing much, for Cottonwood lately, has been easy.
Why should achieving the greatest moment in any of their football-playing lives have been any different?
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