BOUNTIFUL — Senior running back Siaki Fekitoa scored two touchdowns and the Bountiful High defense held firm when it needed to in a 14-6 win for the Redhawks (2-3) against visit Park City (2-3) on Friday night.
It wasn't so simple for the defending 5A state champions.
Park City blocked Cooper Coleman's field goal with 2:18 left in a game that would have given Bountiful a two-score lead.
The Miners then embarked on a drive — fueled by big passing plays and Bountiful penalties — that went all the way to the Redhawks' 5-yard line for a fourth down in the final seconds.
Josh Hofer had earlier connected with Eli Warner for a big gain on the drive. Hofer's pass in the end zone was 1 yard too far away from Warner's hands, and Bountiful celebrated.
"It's great, but it's also great because throughout the season we've really been struggling to really get in rhythm with our team," Fekitoa said.
Defensively, the Redhawks kept a team out of the end zone for an entire game for the second time this year; the first was in the 14-3 win at Farmington, which was not coincidentally Bountiful's only other win.
Carter Brooks, Mason Tidwell, Manu Tia and Sio Hosea routinely pressured Park City's quarterbacks — Hofer and Nikolas Morgan — and were all in on multiple sacks.
Against Park City, the Redhawks' defense forced two red zone stops that resulted in field goals, four punts and two fourth-down stops, at the 1-yard line and 5-yard line, with their heels in their own end zone.
In that regard, 6 yards potentially separated Bountiful and Park City.
The teams traded double digit-play drives to start the game. Bountiful led 7-6 at halftime after Fekitoa scored on a 4-yard touchdown run, and the Redhawks made Park City settle for two short Tanner Pidwell field goals (26 and 27 yards).
The Miners and Redhawks later traded fourth-down stops; most critically, Bountiful stopped Park City on the 1-yard line to preserve its lead going into halftime.
Fekitoa started finding gaps in the Miners' defense, running for 16 yards and then 9 yards on a drive, before taking a bubble screen 29 yards to the end zone for a 14-6 lead. The offense made second-half adjustments that resulted in Fekitoa getting to the second level of the defense before contact.
"We were mostly watching which way they would cross over, which field side," he said.
Despite the late potential for a momentum shift, from potentially leading 17-6 to giving Park City a shot at tying the game, the Redhawks defense made a stop when it had to.
"We just need to get better and better, this is just the beginning, and y'all are gonna see us way later in the playoffs," Fekitoa said.
Bountiful starts Region 6 play next week with a close trip to county rival Woods Cross. Park City starts Region 8 play next week at Salem Hills.
