PLAIN CITY — The moon rose over the mountains northeast of Fremont High early in the second half of the Silverwolves' football game against West Field.
On this night, the Silverwolves did not need to tap into the mystical powers of the moon, though.
They were already ahead 37-3 by the time of moon rise, and wrestled the Longhorns to the turf by a final of 65-3 in a win that saw Fremont (7-2, 5-0 Region 5) clinch a share of the Region 5 title a year after winning the Region 1 title in 6A.
Fremont got in its own way plenty of times with penalties, but on this night it hardly mattered against new rivals West Field, the new school that opened in Taylor in 2024 that split off from Fremont and Roy High.
The Silverwolves buried the Longhorns (6-3, 3-2) in the second quarter, expanding their lead from 14-0 to 37-3 in the matter of a few minutes.
"The theme this week was just play the way we play, and that's the thing is sometimes we get a little lazy, so that loss to Farmington definitely helped reset us, but our theme was just execute," Fremont coach Nate Tuatagaloa said. "That's it, rely on each other and don't try to take on everything yourself."
Thursday's win also marked part of Fremont's season-long evolution from a team that made everyone look to the skies, only to look instead into a cloud of dust on the ground.
Seven of the Silverwolves' nine touchdowns came on the ground and all of them happened after leading rusher Cade Hadley left the game with an apparent serious knee injury.
"The biggest difference (between now and week 1) I see is, I think they believe what we're capable of. From week 1, I think everybody thought we had to air it out…but I think today proved that we didn't have to air it out, and our O-line, man, small and mighty," Tuatagaloa said. "These guys got a run game."
Quarterback Manase Tuatagaloa ran for a 5-yard touchdown to give Fremont a 7-0 lead, set up by Slade Parker's interception of West Field quarterback Easton Eilertson.
West Field has been phenomenal in the second quarter this year, outscoring teams 125-43 in eight games coming in. Thursday night, Fremont outscored the Longhorns 30-3 in the second frame.
Chase Blanch ran in from 8 yards out to give the Silverwolves a 14-0 lead with 11:50 left in the second quarter.
Then, the avalanche really started. Tuatagaloa ran in from 1 yard (21-0), and then found Tennessee committed receiver Salesi Moa for a 6-yard touchdown throw (27-0) in the corner of the end zone, following Landon Palmer's interception that gave Fremont the ball in the red zone.
Eilertson committed a third turnover by fumbling a snap, which Fremont recovered. The Silverwolves took advantage through Cam Graves' 42-yard field goal that made it 30-0 after Moa had a touchdown catch called back for offensive pass interference.
West Field finally got a drive going as Eilertson found Gavin Ortegon twice to get the Longhorns across midfield, setting up Jaden Fowers for a 46-yard field goal.
On Fremont's next play: Tuatagaloa launched a perfectly placed 80-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Moa down the middle of the field. For those keeping track, Fremont had turned the score from 14-0 to 37-3 in a matter of 5 minutes and 25 seconds of game time.
The game was both a blowout and a flag fest. Officials called 26 penalties in the game, according to unofficial tallies.
Taylor Graham, Parker, Graham again and Calvin Cooper ran for second-half touchdowns of 18, 15, 71 and 15 yards, respectively to push the lead to 65-3 in the fourth quarter. Brendan Glover bagged a late interception for Fremont.
