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Wildcats defend No. 1 ranking

Colby Averett races around the edge of the Morgan defense during a 13-12 victory in Week 2. Averett ran for more than 100 yards and three touchdowns in Friday night s 37-6 win against Beaver. Adam Spencer/The Park Record
(Photo by: Adam Spencer/The Park Record)

On paper, Friday night’s football game in Kamas between South Summit and Beaver looked like a really even matchup.

Beaver, in the 2A southern region, was ranked No. 3 in all of 2A heading into Friday night. South Summit, in the 2A northern region, came in as the top-ranked 2A squad.

But football games aren’t played on paper and South Summit showed just how much of a gap there really is between No. 1 and No. 3, cruising to an easy 37-6 victory.

Senior defensive back Jordan McNair intercepted a Beaver pass on the first possession of the game, setting up a one-yard touchdown run from junior quarterback Ty Jones.

The Wildcats never looked back, scoring again on their next drive courtesy of a Carson Freestone seven-yard scamper to give themselves a 14-0 cushion.

Early in the second quarter, Colby Averett scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 13-yard run and South Summit took a 21-6 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Averett was back at it again, scoring on a two-yard run and a one-yard run en route to eclipsing the 100-yard rushing mark.

The Wildcat defense also forced a Beaver safety in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring.

South Summit coach Jerry Parker said the Wildcats have a great stable of running backs, but Averett leads the team on both sides of the ball.

"He does a really good job and he’s pretty patient," Parker said. "When we run the option, they try to take him away, which opens up other things for us. Then when we go back to him, he’s ready. He does such a good job with the ball. And he leads us in defensive points too tackles, assists, turnovers."

He added that if McNair keeps playing the way he has lately, teams will have to adjust their passing strategy against the Wildcats.

"He’s doing a great job defensively," Parker said. "He could have had two more interceptions last week [in a win at American Leadership Academy]."

Overall, Parker was pleased with the way the defense swarmed the ball all night, keeping the Beaver offense off-balance and creating turnovers.

"That’s been a real point of emphasis for us this year," Parker said. "We want more takeaways. We’re gunning to get the ball and take it away. If you count the safety we forced, that’s four turnovers we got."

Now that the Wildcats have defeated the then-No. 1 3A squad in Morgan and the No. 3 2A team, their remaining schedule looks much easier. But, as evidenced by Friday night’s evisceration of the No. 3 2A team, stats on paper don’t decide ballgames.

"More than anything, we’ve got to be resilient and follow through," Parker said. "There are a lot of games to play and a lot of kids to get some playing time for. We’re just going to try to keep them on edge."

South Summit improved to 4-0 on the season with the victory. The Wildcats will be back in action for their homecoming game on Friday night against Summit Academy (0-4) in Kamas. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m.


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