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Davis Journal

Bountiful, Viewmont alive in 5A football playoffs

Nov 08, 2024 09:03AM ● By Josh McFadden

Viewmonts QB #7 Titan Longson hands off to RB #37 Benji Tolman as Offensive Linemen #60 Jaxson Behunin and #52 Mack Youngberg open the route. Viewmont moves on to face Roy Friday in the quarter finals. Photo by Carl Page.

Two rounds are down, and a pair of Davis County teams are still alive in the Class 5A state football tournament. 

Both Bountiful and Viewmont have moved on to the state quarterfinals where they have big games this Friday for the right to play in the semifinals. Bountiful’s inclusion in the quarterfinals shouldn’t be a big surprise. The Redhawks won Region 5 and currently own a 10-1 record. The Vikings are 8-3 and have used a strong defense to get within two games of the stare finals. 

Bountiful

The Redhawks have won seven games in a row and face seventh-seeded Maple Mountain on Friday. Bountiful, seeded second, had a dominant 42-14 victory at home over Alta last Friday. 

In the win over the Hawks, Bountiful never trailed and unleashed a punishing ground attack to win convincingly. Siaki Fekitoa rushed 19 times for 137 and three touchdowns, while quarterback Emerson Geilman ran for 135 yards and two scores on just 12 carries. Geilman’s 71-yard TD scamper with just 1:18 gone in the first quarter opened the scoring for the Redhawks. He added a 17-yard touchdown run halfway through the opening quarter to put his team up 14-7 after a successful point-after kick. 

Fekitoa’s TD runs were 1-, 4- and 13-yard scores, two of which came in the second quarter. The Redhawks were up 28-14 at the break and added two more touchdowns in the second half while shutting out Alta. In the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, Geilman connected with Britton Tidwell on a 9-yard touchdown passes for Bountiful’s final score of the contest. 

Hoko Tuakoi intercepted an Alta pass, and Zeke Murdock and Tidwell each had eight tackles to pace the Redhawks. Connor Mertz and Dawson Allsop added six stops. 

The Redhawks have now scored at least 35 points in each of its last seven games. A Bountiful win over Maple Mountain would pit the Redhawks against either Brighton or Olympus on Nov. 15. 

Viewmont

The Vikings have a tough test this Friday at Roy in the quarterfinals. Roy is the No. 1 seed in the 5A ranks and previously beat the Vikings 42-28 on Oct. 4. 

Viewmont’s second-round win was a defensive nail-biter. 

On Nov. 1, the Vikings edged the Leopards at home 10-7, scoring all of their points in the first half. Drew Breese converted a 31-yard field goal late in the first quarter, followed by a Titan Longson touchdown pass to Jayson Dunroe of 28 yards with 1:32 to play before halftime. 

Titan Longson threw for 137 yards on the day, with 50 of those yards going to wide receiver Drez Jensen on three catches. Benji Toman rushed 16 times for 92 yards. 

But it was the defense that headlined the Vikings on this day. 

Senior linebacker Blake Moore terrorized the East offense, racking up 20 tackles and getting credit for half a sack. Fellow linebacker Owen Seeley, just a sophomore, added 11 tackles and half a sack. Senior defensive end Ezekiel Cook had nine tackles and 1.5 sacks, while junior Ryder Taukiuvea had an interception and five tackles. 

The winner of the Viewmont–Roy game this Friday moves to the semifinals on Nov. 15 to face Timpview or Orem. λ