Cottonwood's football team could celebrate more than a few positives Friday night after beating visiting Sky View 34-20 for its first victory of the season.
The Colts rallied behind the running of Stephen Carter to take a 28-0 lead. Their defense forced five Bobcat turnovers. And though Sky View rallied in the second half, Cottonwood was never seriously in danger of blowing a big lead.
That said, there was one glaring problem. Cottonwood just killed itself with penalties all night long. And these were big, drive-killing monsters including personal fouls, chop blocks and, on defense, holding and pass interference calls. For the Colts to move up the rankings since moving to 5A, they need improvement in that area.
Cottonwood coach Cecil Thomas admitted that penalties held his team back a bit.
"Every time we had a chance to take the game out of reach, there was some penalty," he said. "Sky View kept hanging around and making some plays but our kids answered back."
A quick start didn't hurt, either. Carter got the Colts off to a 4-0 lead on runs of 29 and 44 yards early in the first quarter.
"It was redemption time," said the talented junior running back referring to a win after an opening season loss to powerful Alta.
Cottonwood increased its lead to 28-0 as Crosby Jensen found Jason Lundquist for a 2-yard pass and then hit Chandler Hudson on a 17-yard pass.
Sky View, a Class 4A team from Smithfield, missed two chances to keep it close early in the game on botched field goal attempts but finally got on the board with 19 seconds left in the first half when Kyler Carslen hit Brad Lenkersdorfer on a seven-yard scoring pass.
After losing a fumble on Cottonwood's eight-yard line -- and turnovers were a big problem for the Bobcats all evening long - Sky View gave itself hope when Andy Maughan picked off a pass and raced 17 yards for a score. But Cottonwood answered right back when Jensen hit Lundquist for a 38-yard touchdown. Sky View scored late in the first quarter on a 3-yard run by Carlsen but its five turnovers ultimately killed its chances for an upset.
