Prep football: Viewmont gets defensive in win over Woods Cross

Bountiful • Defense always plays a part in the outcome of a football game.

And boy did the Viewmont defense ever come ready to play Friday night in a Region 5 contest with Woods Cross.

The Vikings recorded a pair of first-half safeties and rolled to a 22-7 win over Woods Cross.

“We really challenged them all week,” Viewmont coach Scott Ditty said. “It’s taken a while to find our defense, but we are showing up.”

Viewmont senior linebacker Chris Stubbs opened the scoring for the Vikings when he sacked Woods Cross quarterback Ashton Fornelius in the end zone midway through the opening quarter for the game’s first points.

“Our line twisted them, and I had to juke around” a blocker, Stubbs said about his safety.

The Viewmont defense wasn’t done. In a rare occurrence, the Vikings recorded a second safety, this one coming in the second quarter to help the Vikings take a 12-7 lead into halftime. The two safeties were sandwiched around a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Cameron Brown.

And while Brown added another short touchdown run in the third quarter, the second half was more of the same from the Viewmonth defense.

“We’ve played well,” Stubbs said about the team’s defense this season. “But we’ve had lows, and tonight we put a complete game together.”

Stubbs also recorded a sack of Fornelius in the fourth quarter with the Wildcats down by two possessions and trying to rally.

“I came around the end and just hit the quarterback,” Stubbs said.

It was one of three quarterback sacks the Vikings recorded.

“It feels amazing,” Stubbs said about the win. “We worked all week for it.”

Brown finished with 138 yards rushing on 29 carries, while Woods Cross leading rusher Martin Samuelu was limited to 35 yards on 11 carries.

The Vikings claimed a share of the region title and clinched a playoff spot with the win. Viewmont can wrap up the region title next week with a win over Bountiful.