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OGDEN — One half of football was all that was needed.
In the first 24 minutes, South Summit’s Kael Atkinson threw three touchdowns, ran for two more and used a 38-13 halftime lead to fend off Grand 50-25 in the Class 2A Championship, the Wildcats' second in a row in six straight appearances, at Stewart Stadium on Saturday.
“Every year it gets even better,” Atkinson said afterward. “We’ve been here for like eight years in a row now so if we don’t make it here it’s kind of disappointing.”
For the game, Atkinson finished 12-of-25 for 198 yards and six total touchdowns (four passing, two rushing). He also added a team-high 131 yards on the ground.
On Saturday, his connection with senior Jared Danise was clear, as they teamed for four touchdowns, including three in the first half.
The pair’s fourth touchdown, something of a dagger, came on the second play of the third quarter. There, Atkinson lofted a pass to Dansie, who caught it in stride and ran from midfield for a 65-yard touchdown to extend South Summit’s lead to 44-13.
“It’s crazy to be a senior and come out here, especially him (Dansie), four touchdowns,” Atkinson said. “He was almost out. We thought he tore his ACL, the second-to-last week before we played North Summit. … We thought he was out, but he came back stronger than ever.”
Quarterback Bryant Troutt finished 5 for 9 for 80 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also led the Red Devils with 275 rushing yards.
After an early blocked field goal, the Red Devils went ahead 7-0 when Troutt caught the pitch on a flea-flicker and uncorked a 51-yard touchdown to Stacy Randall.
The Wildcats responded on the ensuing drive. Led by a number of Atkinson runs, the Wildcats pulled ahead 8-7 after Dansie caught a touchdown and then crossed the goalline on the two-point conversion. Then, following a fumble that set up South Summit at Grand’s six-yard line, Atkinson scored from six yards out and then again on the two-point conversion, and South Summit was ahead 16-7.
The Red Devils tried to use the clock to their advantage. Beginning with 1:05 left in the first quarter, they used 8 minutes and 53 seconds of clock on a 16-play scoring drive to bring the game within 16-13. The scoring play came when quarterback Troutt navigated through a corridor of defenders from three yards out.
That score would prove brief, though. On the ensuing drive, Atkinson sprinted 57 yards up the right sideline for his second touchdown to extend the Wildcat lead to nine. Then, a few plays later, Atkinson connected with Dansie for a second time, this time from 20 yards out, which was setup when Grand’s Trent Elmore fumbled the exchange on a handoff. Dansie ran in the two-point conversion and the rout was on at 30-13 with 2:33 remaining in the second quarter.
For Grand, the hits kept coming. Following a turnover on downs, Atkinson and Dansie hooked up for a third time in the first half, as the former rolled right and threaded the needle from 28 yards out. Hagen Miles added the two-point conversion and the Wildcats carried a 38-13 lead into halftime.
“We like to put points on the board quick,” Atkinson said.
With 2:20 remaining in the third quarter, Landon Nuneviler intercepted Troutt’s screen pass and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown, and in the process, pushed the Wildcats over 50 points for the sixth time this season. Later in the fourth quarter, Troutt scored a 1-yard touchdown and Elmore scored another from two yards out to bring the game to its final score.
Dillon Anderson is studying literary journalism as a student at the University of Utah. You can follow him on Twitter @dillondanderson.
