Published on Nov 23, 2010 04:12PM
One of these days I'll learn not to tempt fate. The lesson of this fall has gone a long way to ensure that.
You probably don't remember these words, but I do.
“Game of the year? I'm eager to see someone make a case for anything but Alta/Cottonwood in Week 1.”
After a high school football season that saw plenty of thrillers, showdowns and drama, this statement still exists on the Internet. Granted, it was written immediately following the Colts' 28-21 win back on Aug. 20, but that just means the person who wrote that made did so after watching one game of hundreds that went on to be played. Who would be so brazen, so bold, so... so... dumb?
After watching Cottonwood's miracle comeback — two defensive touchdowns in fewer than 30 seconds of game time — in the Colts' first game after the death of coach Teko Johnson, I was certain I wouldn't see a game this season, or maybe any other, that would be better. So I wrote it on the Overtime preps blog.
I'm still not convinced there was a better game, considering the emotion and the drama. It was a championship atmosphere in the first week. But Alta proved to be in a down year, so maybe that takes something out of that one.
What else may have been the best game of the year? I have a few candidates.
Highland 37, Mountain Crest 36; Nov. 19
You should remember this one, it was just played last week. 4A state championship. Rice-Eccles Stadium. Highland's Nate Fakahafua caught a touchdown pass in the final minute to send the game to overtime, then another on a big fourth down in overtime. The Rams won their first state championship since 1986 when the Rams stopped Mountain Crest on a two-point conversion.
Logan 35, Mountain Crest 34: Sept. 30
The game pitted quarter-back driven teams: Kuresa for Mountain Crest, DJ Nelson for Logan. Nelson, of course, was the younger brother of BYU quarterback Riley Nelson and Kuresa, of course, had already committed to play at BYU. Hoo-boy. The game was a struggle back and forth, until Logan, leading by a touchdown, turned the ball over inside the Mustangs' 10 with about a minute left. Kuresa adeptly led his team on a minute-long drive, scoring on a 12-yard pass to Taylor Root as time expired. Again, the Mustangs tried to win on a two-point conversion, but Logan blitzed, sacking Kuresa and pulling off the rivalry upset at home.
Springville 35, Spanish Fork 34; Oct. 8
Another rivalry game, another two-point conversion failed. The game had a lot of emotional overtones, considering it was senior night and the final home game in a season that started with the death of senior linebacker Brandon Curtis. The game was a complete shootout, with Dons receiver Travis Still catching four touchdowns. After Spanish Fork's final touchdown, however, coaches lined Still up in the shotgun for a two-point conversion. He ran to the outside where he was stopped by Springville. The win gave Springville the region championship and relegated a very good Spanish Fork team to second place. Also, it's worth noting that had Spanish won this game, and taken the Region 8 title, it woud have played Timpview in the second round. Springville upset the four-time state champions in that spot and it's less likely Spanish Fork would have. That means the Thunderbirds likely would have played for a fifth straight title and the Highland/Mountain Crest thriller would have never happened.
Certainly there were other games worthy of the designation of “best of the year.” What were they?
— Bill Oram
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/blogspreps/50738345-52/game-crest-mountain-spanish.html.csp
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