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Davis Journal

Seasons come to end for Bountiful, Farmington football

Nov 10, 2021 12:22PM ● By Josh McFadden

Bountiful’s Drew Bowles (24) gets clawed by Orem’s Zion Saleapaga (5) as he tries turning upfield for yardage. The Tigers scored late to win the 5A state playoff game. Photos by Roger V. Tuttle

All good things must come to an end. That includes successful football seasons for Bountiful and Farmington High Schools. The two teams made it further in the playoffs than any Davis County squad, reaching the quarterfinals. 

But that’s as far as the schools could make it. Both teams bowed out in quarterfinals action last week, bringing the 2021 campaign to a close. 

Bountiful

The Redhawks entered their Class 5A quarterfinals game last Friday as the No. 4 seed, taking on 21st-seeded Orem. In many cases, such a disparity in seedings may be a mismatch. But Orem has been one of 5A’s top squads for several seasons, and even though it has had more of a down year, the team still posed a challenge for Bountiful.

It showed in the state tournament game. 

Orem prevailed in the contest, 40-33, in what was a back-and-forth game all day long. The game featured big plays, lead changes and clutch performances. In the end, Bountiful came up short in its bid to advance to the state semifinals. 

The Redhawks trailed 7-0 early, but Owen Geilman hit Jaxon Demorest on a 59-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter. Unfortunately for Bountiful, it missed the extra point and trailed 7-6 after one quarter. In the second quarter, Corbin Cottle had a 3-yard touchdown run, and Truman Duryea had a big play. He took a pass from Geilman and went 80 yards to the end zone. Orem scored as well in that quarter, and the score was knotted at 20-20 at halftime. 

Both teams scored 13 points in the third quarter (each missing one extra point). Cottle scored his second TD, this one a 59-yard romp. Geilman used his legs to score the Redhawks’ second touchdown of the quarter as he crossed the goal line from 8 yards out. In between the two touchdowns, Orem scored on a 90-yard kickoff return. 

The fourth quarter was the deciding factor of the game. 

Bountiful couldn’t get on the scoreboard, and Orem broke a 33-33 tie with a touchdown with 2 ½ minutes left in the game. The Redhawks couldn’t match the score, running out of time. With the loss, Bountiful ended its season with an 8-3 record. 

Cottle finished the season with 1,391 yards on the ground to go along with an impressive 20 touchdowns. Drew Bowles led the squad with 29 catches. Hunter Neilson led the Redhawks with 64 tackles and two interceptions. 

Farmington

The Phoenix had a lot to be happy about with their first year in Class 6A. But their quarterfinals matchup last Friday was a rough one. 

Farmington was on the wrong end of a 52-7 blowout to third-seeded Skyridge. Things didn’t look too bad early. Skyridge led just 14-7 after the first quarter. Easton White connected with Kenyon Brown on a 1-yard touchdown pass with 1:46 left in the period to close the gap. 

But it was all Skyridge from there. 

Farmington allowed 19 points in the second quarter and 13 more in the third. It was 46-7 after three quarters. With the loss, the Phoenix finished the season with an 8-4 mark, quite an improvement from last season’s 2-9 showing. In what has been an up-and-down four years for the program, the Phoenix went 9-2 in 2019 and 2-9 in their first year as a team in 2018. 

White ended the year with 1,267 yards and 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Brown had 618 yards rushing with nine touchdowns. Mitch Nielsen had 27 catches for 500 yards.