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BOUNTIFUL — Don't mess with that new kid on the block, because it looks like he just might be the toughest kid on the block these days, too.
Viewmont High, playing its first season in a revamped Region 2, took over undisputed possession of the league lead by turning back West for a hard-fought 27-19 victory in the Vikings' homecoming game on a drizzly Friday night.
Viewmont, fueled by some solid special teams play featuring a pair of field goals by Aaron Dalton and a large cast of playmakers on both sides of the ball, raised its region record to 3-0 and improved to 6-2 overall in this matchup between the league's top two teams.
"We still have two tough games in Kearns and Hunter," said Viewmont coach Brad Lloyd, a West High alum (1975) who spent 16 seasons as an assistant coach at West and coached many members of what is now the Panthers' coaching staff. "Our defense came up big, they made some big plays and we made some big plays, then we try and give it away and they try to give it away.
"I give all credit to West. They never gave up; they kept comin' and they got the ball to their athlete, No. 30 (Eric Takenaka). ... That Takenaka kid is trouble. You get the ball in his hands and he gets a head of steam, he's pretty special.
"But I was proud of our kids," Lloyd said. "We knew that this was going to be a real tough game, and we tried to get the ball a little bit to Braden Waiters, and he did a really nice job of running and our line did a much better job in the second half."
West slipped to 2-1 in Region 2 and 4-4 overall with the loss.
Waiters rushed for 103 yards on just eight carries for Viewmont, and it was his 58-yard scoring scamper with 3:47 remaining that gave the Vikings some breathing room after the Panthers had pulled within 20-19 just a few seconds earlier.
Waiters gained some quick redemption after he fumbled a pitchout on Viewmont's previous possession, giving West new life at the Vikings' 31-yard line. From there, Alex Espinosa quickly hooked up with Taurus Dickerson on a 31-yard scoring strike — the second time in the fourth period that the Panthers ' twosome connected for a touchdown.
But rather than kicking the PAT that could've tied the score at 20, West went for a two-point conversion run that was stuffed far short, leaving the Panthers a point short on the scoreboard.
"I think I would've kicked it and said, 'Let's go into overtime' and go from there," said Lloyd, who didn't think the Panthers' two-point try was a designed play. "We had a lot of pressure and the holder just saw it and just tried to flip it out there (to the West place-kicker)."
Then after West's onside kick attempt failed, giving Viewmont the ball at its own 42, Waiters made the Panthers pay on the first play from scrimmage with his 58-yard scoring run that restored the Vikings' 8-point lead.
"Now I could breathe again," Lloyd said. "I got on him a bit after the fumble — just go out there and fall on the darn thing instead of trying to pick it up. But maybe that wasn't the best call in that situation. ... So we'll keep him."
Viewmont got on the scoreboard first when Pqrker Beyeler went the final yard of a lengthy scoring drive with 7:23 left in the first quarter. Dalton's PAT kick made it 7-0.
Dalton added a 34-yard field goal late in the first period to make it 10-0, and after Viewmont's defense stopped the Panthers on 4th-and-one, West soon got the ball back in Viewmont territory, and this time the Panthers capitalized.
Takenaka went two yards to paydirt and, after a fumbled snap spoiled the PAT attempt, Viewmont clung to a 10-6 halftime lead.
Waiters' two-yard plunge made it 17-6 early in the third quarter, and a great punt return by Viewmont's Cole Jacobs set up Dalton's 26-yard field goal that made it 20-6.
"I like our kicker (Dalton); he's only a sophomore," Lloyd said. "If you don't have a good kicker, it puts a lot of pressure on you to score touchdowns and go for it on fourth down. To be able to get points, that was the difference, that we were able to get field goals."
