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MURRAY — At halftime of Friday’s 5A matchup between the visiting Highland Rams and the Murray Spartans, several young couples were announced at midfield as this year’s homecoming royalty.
What they weren’t aware of was the Rams were coming for their crown.
Highland defeated Murray on their homecoming night 24-0. The Rams are now 4-1, while Murray slips to 2-3 on the season. The game was each team’s first conference matchup.
Highland head coach Brody Benson attributed his team’s success to the pressure the defense put on the Spartans’ offense. But even in the dominant shutout performance, Benson felt his team’s offense didn’t look as polished as his defense.
“We have a lot to clean up offensively. It was like a tale of two teams, I thought,” Benson said. “We just couldn’t really get anything rolling. Obviously we've got to look at the film. It’s always good to win but I just didn’t think we played as well as we could.”
Highland’s ground attack got going early on a rushing touchdown in the first quarter by junior running back Kolton White. The Rams followed it up with a long clock-eating 99-yard drive, capped off by another rushing touchdown by senior running back Ammon Sofele in the second quarter.
The Rams would close add to the shutout late in the fourth quarter when senior running back Bronson Olevao unleashed a huge run inside the red zone. Olevao would later score a touchdown with 1:43 left to play to make it 24-0.
The Spartan’s best offensive drive came in the first half after a big pass play by junior quarterback Jarrett Henriksen to senior Eli Taeoalii to set up the offense with a prime scoring opportunity. But Murray failed to punch it in on the 1-yard line, resulting in a turnover on downs.
The goal-line stand was just one area where the defense made their mark early. The defense also forced a fumble on a sack that was recovered by Highland's Kaufusi Pakofi prior to halftime. The Rams had a chance to rack up more forced turnovers, but a dropped interception and a few offensive fumbles didn’t bounce their way.
“We were in the right spot, we've just got to make sure we can come up with those,” Benson explained. “In critical times, those will come back to haunt you. I can think of three right now that we had in our hands but let them go through.”
Fortune shifted towards the home team when the Spartans stopped the Rams cold in their tracks on their opening drive of the second half. Senior linebacker Jackson Rose came up with the Spartans’ first interception of the game after a bone crushing hit was dealt to Highland’s quarterback.
But Murray's offense failed to match the defense’s prior success and were unable to score again in a red zone opportunity.
Benson said Murray’s defense did a good job of confusing his offensive line that resulted in some negative plays. Miscommunications on offense is something Benson said he wants cleaned up by next week.
Still down by two scores, though, the Spartans picked up big yards after Henriksen connected to Taeoalii again for another huge gain to end the third quarter on a positive note.
That note was short lived, though, as the first play of the fourth quarter was another red zone turnover — this time an interception to Highland's senior defensive back Ben Neilson.
Highland will travel to Skyline Friday to face the Eagles. The Spartans will be on the road to take on the West High Panthers. Marcos Aragon is the editor in chief of the Salt Lake Community College Globe.
