At Alta, football signals return to normalcy

Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune Alta High School football has had a roller coaster of a last year. Tight end Steven Richards makes a catch downfield but is picked up by the defensive unit during practice on Wednesday August 10.

Sandy • In the new beginning, on the first day of two-a-day practices and the first day that football players could officially again be football players, the expectations for a great program were levied.

Against a clear sky and familiar vaunted expectations, the Alta Hawks pounded pads. Drill after drill, the offense in white hammered into the defense in black. Then, a whistle was blown.

Later, first-year coach Bob Stephens would confide that this first practice was as good as he had hoped. But in that moment, he didn’t like what he saw.

“Are you going to rise up and make it a battle?” he roared. “Or are you going to lie down?”

This is an important year at Alta, The Tribune’s No. 4-ranked team in 5A. The football team is coming off a 4-6 season, after having previously reached the 5A semifinals or finals in five straight seasons.

Moreover, it’s been a year of tumult and tarnished pride at the state’s largest high school, which in the past nine months has been branded as a harbor for cheaters and bigots.

Football season doesn’t represent just a fresh start for the players — it’s a critical piece of a community’s cleansing.

Are you going to rise up and make it a battle?

“Everybody’s watching Alta football in this community,” senior running back Bryan Engstrom said. “I think we have a little pressure to do well to relax the community from stress.”

Or are you going to lie down?

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‘It never ended’ • It was unthinkable that any blow could be bigger than the first: In October, coach Les Hamilton announced he was leaving after six seasons and two state championships.

But then parents’ allegations of improprieties — including that Hamilton had taken bribes in exchange for playing time — surfaced. A Canyons School District investigation ensued and Hamilton, who moved to Chile to work in the business of exporting giant squid, was cleared of all charges.

He subsequently returned in the spring to take the head coaching job at Hunter.

The worst would still come.

In February, during a spirit assembly, a student dressed in all white donned a white hood. Another student said it closely resembled the garments of Ku Klux Klan members.

Television trucks staked out the school. Police officers roamed the halls for three days. Other “serious incidents” of racism were uncovered by a district investigation. The school’s principal retired. Other administrators were reassigned to other schools.

“It never ended last year,” athletic director Morgan Brown said. “That was the frustrating part. I’d sit there and you’d have to bite your teeth because what happens in the press isn’t always what’s happening in your school.”

“You hear about schools like in L.A. that are like that,” senior linebacker Weston Rallis said. “It would be scary walking down the hall. … It didn’t feel like Alta at all.”

But this is a new year.

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Alta rising • The trickiest rebuilding project for Alta football won’t be on the field. The Hawks have three players already committed to play in Division I. Cornerback Austin Lee will play at Utah, while tight end Steven Richards and linebacker Rhett Sandlin have committed with BYU. Quarterback Tyson Blackner is a year matured.

The Hawks are loaded, as Alta teams are from year to year. They will win games.

“We set an example here,” Richards said. “With this new coaching staff, they’ve really made it clear that when we put on our helmets and we put on the pads we’re setting the example for the community.”

The Hawks play a tough schedule — tougher than the one that left them 0-4 to start a disastrous 2010 season. They open against 4A Timpview, then play two-time defending 5A champion Bingham at Rice-Eccles Stadium. A trip to California to play powerhouse Crenshaw follows. Later in September, a test against another California school, Taft, at Rio Tinto Stadium.

“My feeling, personally, is I want to play the good teams to make us better,” said Stephens, who served as an assistant under Hamilton before getting promoted.

Still, Stephens acknowledged that he’s nervous. Another slow start would be a disaster.

Are you going to lie down?

Football Fridays at Alta will bring calm to a school in great need of it. Fans will share a comfortable dance, set to the percussion of pads popping against pads under familiar uniforms — the only black and white the Hawks want to be known for.

Or are you going to rise up and make it a battle?

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The No. 4 teams

Class 4A, Highland • The defending 4A champs are again loaded. Running back Sione Houma is a bruiser who committed to Michigan. The Rams’ 2010 season veered sharply toward success when QB Anthony “Fish” Smithson took over. He, too, is back for his senior year. The question, though, is how much Highland will feel the departure of two-way star Nate Fakahafua.

Class 3A, Cedar • Cedar’s vaunted option offense is buoyed by the addition of quarterback John Ursua. Ursua, who starred at Westlake last season, is a Division I prospect with offers from BYU, Utah and, reportedly, Hawaii. Cedar will be challenged, though, now that all of the St. George-area schools, including talented Pine View, are 3A.

Class 2A, Manti • Tough preseason includes tilts against 3A powers Delta and Juan Diego. After years of being competitive in 3A, the Templars are a feared addition to the small-school ranks. Quarterback Brandon Aste is a three-year starter and will anchor the offense behind an experienced offensive line.

Class 1A, Altamont • In an 8-4 campaign last year, the Longhorns reached the state semifinals. Their only losses were to other semifinal teams. The offensive playmakers are all back. If any of the traditional powers struggle, Altamont may be poised to take advantage.

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The Salt Lake Tribune’s five-for-five football countdown continues

This week, The Tribune rolls out its preseason football rankings day by day, classification by classification until the season begins Friday. Today we highlight the No. 4 team in every classification, and our featured team is Alta, which is trying to rebound after a tumultuous year.

Stay tuned this week for our rankings, culminating in our No. 1 picks Friday. Also, follow along with our team-by-team previews on the Overtime blog. > sltrib.com/blogs/preps

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