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OGDEN — It was the tale of two halves when Beaver played Summit Academy in the 2A state semifinals at Weber State University on Thursday.
At halftime, Summit Academy led 14-6, but after some defensive adjustments, Beaver held Summit to only one meaningful first down in the second half, scored 29 points of its own in the second half and rolled to a 35-14 win to advance to the state championships game.
“(South Summit QB Issac) Hamilton is very tall and very accurate, he throws a very good ball,” Beaver head coach Randy Hunter said after the game. “They did a fantastic job against us early. We made some adjustments, we were rushing four and not getting to him so we thought we’d put three (defensive) linemen in and try to take away some seams. It helped change the momentum of the game.”
Coach Hunter’s strategy worked as Beaver’s defense intercepted Hamilton three times and gained 14 points off those turnovers.
“We challenged the kids to physically start winning the ball game, and they willed themselves to do that. You can see fundamental changes in us wearing them down as the game progressed,” Hunter said.
One way Beaver started winning physically was when they changed to more of a hurry-up offense. “We can speed things up, we do huddle but we if see people a little bit gassed we will push the issue,” Hunter added.
Beaver will play in the 2A championship game against South Summit, but the game between South Summit and San Juan happened after Beaver’s win. Either way, Hunter was ready for whoever was next. “Both programs are fantastic programs, vetted by great head coaches. We’re just excited to advance and whoever we play we’ll start preparing for them.”
Beaver will play South Summit at Southern Utah University, Friday, Nov. 12 at 11 a.m.
The scoring started early when Beaver’s Jordan Hardy ran for a 15-yard touchdown, but the PAT was missed. Summit responded quickly with a 20-yard Hamilton pass to Gavin Davey, putting the score at 7-6.
Hardy then fumbled a handoff and Summit’s Shawn Vinson recovered. Summit Academy took advantage, scoring on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Hamilton to Baylor Harding to make it 14-6.
A tight game started to turn in Beaver's favor when Treyden Young intercepted a high pass from Hamilton and returned it 32 yards to the Summit 33. But Beaver's drive ended after a failed 4th-and-goal try leaving the score 14-6.
On the first series of the second, Young intercepted Hamilton again and a few plays later Kolton Leos scored to make it 14-12. Beaver went for two and the tie but Hardy was tackled just short on the quarterback keeper.
After a long stretch without a first down, Beaver broke its three-and-out streak when it changed to its hurry-up offense. Dillion Smith had a big catch to put Beaver on the 5-yard line, then two plays later he punched it in to give Beaver the lead again. On the two-point conversion, Porter Hollingshead made an impressive diving catch off a deflected pass to bring in the extra point.
Later in the fourth quarter, Hardy ran for a 34-yard touchdown to solidify Beaver’s lead and a pass to Taylor Macdonald on the two-point conversion made the score 28-14.
Another huge run by Hardy set up the last score of the game, an 8-yard run by Smith.
