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SANDY — Alta quarterback Kepa Niumeitolu rolled out of the pocket and saw nothing but green grass in front of him.
It was fourth-and-5 with the Hawks in no man's land just past midfield. They went for it, putting their trust in a sophomore quarterback making just his second career start. He didn't disappoint.
Niumeitolu dropped back to pass, but as he was flushed to his left, he took off running; and 45 yards later, he was celebrating in the end zone.
"That was all the O-line, and Wyatt Johnson that was all him; he was blocking down the field," Niumeitolu said. "I was just running."
That play early in the fourth quarter served as the death knell of sorts, putting the Hawks up three scores in its 34-14 win over Highland Friday at Alta.
"You know what, this dude's a play maker," Alta coach Alema Te'o said. "I know there are other guys in the state that are doing some things, but he's only a sophomore, so we are very excited for the future of our program."
The present is looking pretty good, too.
Niumeitolu started the season as the backup, but his playmaking ability popped when he got the few chances he had. After Alta's offense struggled in a loss to East, the Hawks turned to Niumeitolu. He threw for 390 yards in his first start last week (a loss to West), and in his second he got his first win.
Niumeitolu threw for 255 yards and two touchdowns against Highland, helping the Hawks snap a two-game losing streak.
"It took us a while to get it all sorted out," Te'o said of the quarterback situation. "But you can see the special player he is."
The Alta defense was pretty special in its own right Friday, too.
Even when the Rams seemed to have found something late in the first half by having quarterback Manasa Pela find holes in the defensive front and run, Alta was quick to adjust. Pela's legs led a scoring drive that featured five designed runs by the quarterback just before halftime.
During the break, the Hawks made a change.
"He was sliding through our gaps," Te'o said. "And so we just told our guys to go head up and just lock them up upfront. We just had to read the flow, and it worked out a lot better for us."
Highland's first points of the second half didn't come until there was 2:04 left in the game. But by that point in the game, the contest was all but over.
When Asher Merrill made a late Randy Moss-esque touchdown grab in the waning moments, it became official: Alta was back in the win column.
"We hit a couple of bumps with East and West," Te'o said. "Hopefully we get a chance to run into those again, they're both great teams, but I feel like we're gonna get better as time goes on," Te'o said. "And I'm excited to compete against everybody moving forward. This is a great region for us. We just got to get going."
