After 10 weeks of tough losses, exhilarating wins and other highs and lows, the high school football regular season is nearing an end. Now an even more important stretch begins: the state tournament. 

The final regular-season games were on Wednesday, after our press time. Region races and playoff seeding was still up in the air heading into the final contests. 

Bountiful

The Redhawks entered their last regular-season game at home against Woods Cross tied with Roy atop the Region 5 standings with a 5-1 record. Overall, the Redhawks were 8-1 before the tilt against the Wildcats. 

Bountiful put itself in a position to win the region with a huge 42-35 victory at Roy on Oct. 10. The defeat was Roy’s first of the season. 

In the contest, Bountiful had a productive second quarter, scoring 21 points. Quarterback Emerson Geilman had a hand – or feet – in all of those scores. He connected with Britton Tidwell from 48 yards out and then scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. With just a second left in the first half, he threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Zeke Murdock. Tidwell added a 7-yard touchdown reception from Geilman in the first quarter. It was 28-28 at halftime. 

After Roy went up 35-28 late in the third quarter, Bountiful put together a clutch performance in the fourth quarter. 

The Redhawks tied things up with 10:47 to play in the game after Siaki Fekitoa hauled in a 13-yard pass from Geilman and Landon Zayas made the extra point. A minute and a half later, Geilman scored on a 26-yard TD run. Zayas’ extra point made the score 42-35, and the Redhawks’ defense kept Roy off the board the rest of the way. 

Davis vs. Farmington 

In a rivalry game, the Darts and Phoenix met last Thursday on Davis’ home field. In a surprise, Farmington prevailed 28-20. 

Farmington started the season 0-4 and 1-5 but have since reeled off three wins in a row. Before its last game at home against Fremont, Farmington sat in second place in Region 1 with a 3-1 mark. Overall, Farmington was 4-5 heading into the Fremont matchup. 

In the Davis–Farmington matchup last week, the Darts got on the board first when Bode Sparrow caught a 26-yard pass from Tradon Bessinger. But the Phoenix responded in a hurry when Travis Hoopers ran back the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. With 28 seconds to go in the first quarter, Hoopes then ran the ball into the end zone from 8 yards out. 

 The second quarter was quiet, with Davis’ Finn Garff providing the only scoring on a pair of field goals – 42 and 31 yards. Farmington was up 14-13 at halftime. 

The Phoenix increased their lead in the third quarter by scoring two more touchdowns and holding Davis scoreless. Drew Love had a 2-yard touchdown run, following by a 2-yard score on the ground from Hoopes. Now down 28-13, Davis had a hill to climb in the fourth. 

Bessinger and Sparrow hooked up for a touchdown for the second time, this time on a 24-yard TD completion with 3:17 to go. But after Garff’s extra point closed the gap to 28-20, Davis could get no closer. The Darts fell to 2-2 in league play and 6-3 overall with the loss. 

Hoopes led all players in rushing with 145 and two touchdowns on 145 carries. Love added 65 yards on 11 carries, as the Phoenix tallied 218 yards on the ground. Jett Salmon led the way on defense for Farmington with nine tackles and two sacks. 

For Davis, Bessinger had another solid outing. The junior signal-caller had 284 yards passing and two touchdowns on 65% completions. Sparrow and Tyson Baggett both had more than 100 yards receiving, compiling nine catches for 109 yards and eight catches for 102 yards, respectively. Ethan Lockwood led all players with 11 tackles. Johnny Parker had an interception for Davis. 

The Darts played at Syracuse on Wednesday.

Woods Cross 

Back in Region 5, Woods Cross was just a game behind Bountiful and Roy in the standings heading into its final regular-season game. The Wildcats were 4-2 in league play and 6-3 overall. Woods Cross finished the regular season on Wednesday at Bountiful. 

In their last outing, the Wildcats outlasted Box Elder 23-17. Almost all the scoring took place in the second quarter. 

The Wildcats were down 10-3 after three quarters, having only managed a 22-yard field goal from Jace Bills in the first quarter. But the Wildcats erupted in the final 10 ½ minutes with three touchdowns. 

Villami Tapa’atoutai started the scoring spree with a 9-yard touchdown run with 10:32 to play. The extra point missed, leaving the Wildcats down 10-9. After Box Elder extended the lead to 17-9, Woods Cross got two more touchdowns, both from Tapa’atoutai. He crossed the goal line on a 9-yard TD run, followed by a 3-yard score with just nine seconds to play. Successful point-after kicks followed the scores. 

Tapa’atoutai had another stellar performance. 

The junior running back rushed for 124 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries. For the year, through nine games, he has amassed 1,256 yards and 16 touchdowns. His yardage total was good enough for second in the entire state entering the final regular-season game. In the win over Box Elder, teammate Jesse Simmons added 70 yards rushing and 67 yards passing. Ryan Miller was the leading tackler with 10 stops. 

Viewmont 

With one game to go before the postseason, the Vikings had a solid 6-3 record and were in a three-way tie for fourth place in Region 5 at 3-3. 

Viewmont faced Clearfield on the road on Wednesday to wrap up the regular season. Last Thursday, the Vikings blew out Bonneville at home, 49-19. Thirty-five of those points came in a dizzying second quarter. Quarterback Titan Longson threw three touchdown passes in the quarter – 51 yards to Jordan Jones, 36 yards to Jayson Dunroe and 21 yards to Drez Jensen. The defense got into the act too, with Jensen scoring on a fumble return and Zach Anderegg returning an interception 38 yards for a touchdown. Longson and Jensen also connected from 28 yards out in the first quarter. It was 42-7 Viewmont at halftime. 

The Vikings made it 49-7 late in the third quarter when Longson threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Tillman. Viewmont had a commanding lead and gave plenty of playing time to reserve players in the fourth quarter. 

Longson had 295 yards passing and five touchdowns on 17-22 completions. Backup quarterback Jack Savage completed both of his passing attempts for 24 yards. Eight Viewmont players caught passes, led by Cache Tuia’s six grabs (for 51 yards). Dunroe led the way in receiving yards with 70. λ