Woods Cross • Oh, how close Woods Cross came to upsetting Mountain Crest. Instead, the Wildcats went home devastated.

The Wildcats defined themselves throughout the 42-35 shootout as a team that lives by virtue of big plays. But it was the small one — first and goal from the one yard line — that eluded them. Woods Cross fumbled the ball away on a third down try. The ball was recovered by Mountain Crest's Tanner Richardson, who also stuffed Woods Cross running back Anthony Kendrick on the previous play.

Mountain Crest, led by star quarterback Alex Kuresa, marched down the field over the course of three minutes and 10 plays and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 30 seconds remaining.

"We never felt we were going to lose," Kuresa said. "That's a lot of time to go score."

Kuresa, who has committed to play at Brigham Young University, was 27-for-43 for 362 yards.

It's fitting that the game came down to the last play, when throughout the contest it was always about the next one

Mountain Crest struck first, going 68 yards on its first drive. After that, however, the teams traded scores like baseball cards.

Woods Cross invested heavily in trickery in the first half, scoring a 75-yard touchdown on a double pass and failing to convert both an onside kick and a fake punt.

But the Wildcats appeared to pull away when Adam Hales returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. On the team's next possession, Woods Cross quarterback Tyler Parson found Anthony Kendrick for a 36-yard score.

Kendrick rushed 16 times for 100 yards, and tailback Masei Sauni ran 12 times for 96 yards.

Mountain Crest entered the season regarded as the best bet to knock off four-time defending 4A champion Timpview, but late Friday, it appeared likely the Mustangs would fall to 1-2 entering region play.

It was a quick shift of emotions for the two teams, just as it was a rapid reversal of situations. Just as Woods Cross had been the one looking for the go-ahead score, so, too, was Kuresa and the Mustangs.

Except Kuresa capitalized, pushing over the top to take the lead.

And, just like that, the emotions flip-flopped as well.

On the verge of being upset, Mountain Crest went home satisfied to have escaped Woods Cross with a victory.

boram@sltrib.com On Twitter: @oramb, @tribpreps