This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
West Valley • Hunter needed to travel nearly length of the field with less than minute remaining in a tie ballgame against Viewmont on senior night. The thought of playing conservatively for extra time never crept into the minds of the Wolverines.
"We're going to win it. No overtime," said Hunter coach Scott Henderson. "We're going right now."
Pinned on its own end, Hunter baited Viewmont's safety into pursuing a decoy post route, which freed up receiver Olson Williams on the sideline. Quarterback McKay Meidlinger hit the speedy receiver, who streaked up the hashes and evaded one defender before plowing into the end zone with five seconds remaining to furnish Hunter's dramatic 30-23 win on Thursday.
"Senior night," said Williams emotionally after collapsing into his teammate's shoulders. "I was playing for my mom. She passed away about five years ago. I live with my aunt and uncle. I wouldn't be here without them."
Williams finished with three touchdowns, two interceptions — both of which led to scores, including the game-winner — several pass breakups and numerous jarring hits in his final regular-season home game, but the win essentially secured one of the top two seeds in Region 2 for Hunter, which is accompanied with home-field advantage in the postseason.
"What else do we ask? We ask our playmakers to step up," Henderson said of Williams.
After trailing 16-0 at halftime, Viewmont reeled off 20 unanswered points in the third quarter on an 88-yard slip screen from Cole Huish to Cortland George, a 5-yard scamper by Huish and a blocked punt recovered by Hunter Burt with 3:30 in the third quarter.
"We had a good first half and then came out flat in the third quarter," Henderson explained. "They punched us in the mouth, and that's one thing about our kids — we're resilient. We settled down in the fourth quarter and took care of the ball offensively, did some things defensively. We stepped up when we needed to."
Viewmont fumbled on the second play from scrimmage, as the ball bounced fortuitously into Hunter's Palepoi Gilmore's awaiting arms. The senior defensive back positioned Meidlinger's 7-yard touchdown pass to Williams with his 41-yard return. Williams found the end zone for the second time, putting Hunter up 13-0 in the second on a jet sweep after snagging an interception. David Mapa's pick with 3:41 remaining in the second set up Alma Hansen's 22-yard field goal as time expired for a 16-0 lead at intermission.
The Vikings predictability on offense in the first half — routinely resorting to dives, bubble screens and hitches — paired with their inability to generate any push at the point of attack equated to vanilla results, but in the third quarter Viewmont adjusted its scheme and exploited a mismatch by testing Hunter's secondary vertically with 6-foot-3 receiver Ryan Cleghorn.
The Wolverines eventually recaptured the lead on Duke Atiga's 10-yard rush in the fourth quarter before Viewmont pulled even at 23 apiece with 3:20 remaining on Preston Pitt's 24-yard field goal. The Vikings regained possession shortly thereafter with a defensive stop, but Williams' second interception with 36.2 on the clock set up the winning score.
"Yeah, honestly, yes," Williams said when asked if he knew he'd score once he caught it. "Coach says catch every ball and go for that end zone."
Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
Storylines
R Hunter remains undefeated in league-play on Olson Williams' 65-yard touchdown with five seconds remaining.
• Viewmont scores 20 unanswered points in the third quarter after trailing 16-0 at halftime.
• Hunter plays at Davis on Wednesday for first place in Region 2. —
Football schedule
Thursday's results
• Bear River at Tooele
• Ben Lomond at Judge
• Cottonwood at Clearfield
• Desert Hills at Snow Canyon
• Emery at Grantsville
• North Sanpete at Juab
• Northridge at Mountain Crest
• Salem Hills at Westlake
• Sky View at Roy
• Stansbury at Logan
• Syracuse at Granger
• Taylorsville at Bingham
• Uintah at Spanish Fork
• Union at Morgan
• Viewmont at Hunter
• Weber at Fremont
Friday's games
• Alta at Provo
• Altamont at Wayne
• American Leadership at North Summit
• Beaver at San Juan
• Bountiful at Bonneville
• Box Elder at East
• Brighton at West Jordan
• Carbon at Juan Diego
• Cyprus at Hillcrest
• Delta at Canyon View
• Dixie at Hurricane
• Enterprise at Grand
• Gunnison at Summit Academy
• Herriman at American Fork
• Jordan at Copper Hills
• Kanab at Parowan
• Layton at West
• Layton Christian at Milford
• Lehi at Lone Peak
• Maple Mountain at Wasatch
• Monticello at Diamond Ranch
• Mountain View at Woods Cross
• Murray at Olympus
• North Sevier at South Sevier
• Park City at Ogden
• Pine View at Cedar
• Pleasant Grove at Riverton
• Rich at Duchesne
• Richfield at Manti
• Skyline at Kearns
• South Summit at Millard
• Springville at Payson
• Timpanogos at Orem
• Timpview at Corner Canyon
All games 7 p.m.