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Kamas • An old-fashioned lunch pail sat between South Summit's "Double S" logo at midfield 30 minutes before kickoff. The Wildcats have embraced a blue-collar mentality this season.
Leading by three at halftime in an undefeated dispute against crosstown rival North Summit, South Summit fastened its chinstraps and conducted an exhausting opening second-half drive to put away the Braves in a 17-7 victory to claim the outright region championship and a bye in the first week of the postseason.
"We challenged our kids in the third quarter to come out and score on the opening drive, and they responded," said South Summit coach Aaron Tillett. "I really think that was the difference in a game like this, where the defenses are playing so well. That gave us some breathing room."
The Wildcats (9-0) have now won a state-leading 19 straight games and finished unscathed in the regular season by avoiding replicating its painful experience of 2013, when North Summit (6-3) played spoiler in the Wildcats' 11-1 season.
"All of that together means a whole lot to this team and this community," Tillett said of capturing the region title against North Summit on senior night. "It's kind of the first step — the region championship is what we've been looking for. Now we get ready for the next season."
The first half was football at its purest. In the popular world of spread offenses, both teams resorted to running between tackles. They combined for just nine throws in the first 24 minutes.
The Wildcats had several failed opportunities in the red zone, including a missed field goal and botched fake kick from 28 yards out with seconds remaining in the first half.
"Our quarterback, at the beginning, was struggling with the reads," Tillett said. "They were coming so hard, and [he] made a few mistakes on reads. In the second half, settled down, we marched down the field. It was a little bit of an execution problem."
The Wildcats struggled to contain the Braves' defensive front of Mason and Braden Richins and Tyler Coleman, whose constant pressure allowed the second layer of defense clog running and passing lanes.
"North Summit fired off the ball," Tillett said. "They are a tough team. It took us some time to get going."
South Summit accepted the challenge of bottling up the pressure in the third quarter with an opening drive that milked seven minutes off the clock and culminated with a 5-yard race to the pylon by Brady Bess. Five minutes later, the Wildcats dialed up the double pass resulting in a 38-yard touchdown from Parker Grajek to Isaac Tillett for a 17-0 lead with 31.2 remaining in the third quarter.
"We've been practicing it all week," Grajek said. "We believed in our scheme, that we could do it. We believed that we could beat them tonight."
The Braves, which began the season ranked No. 1 in the 2A classification, once again struggled to generate an offensive rhythm. The lone scoring drive featured zero sense of urgency despite trailing by three scores. North Summit contently traded nine minutes of clock for seven points by allowing precious time to dwindle deep into the play clock.
South Summit has now won six of the past seven meetings against North Summit.
Twitter: @trevorphibbs —
Storylines
R South Summit extends state-leading win streak to 19 games with old-school victory against North Summit.
• The Wildcats have won six of the past seven meetings vs. the Braves.