Wahlquist tops TH Bell to win Weber School District junior high football championship
Photo supplied, Diane Calvert
Wahlquist Jr. High defenders (green) pursue a TH Bell ball carrier in the Weber School District junior high football championship game Thursday, Nov. 3, at Bonneville High School in Washington Terrace.The Wahlquist Junior High Eagles claimed the Weber School District junior high football championship, defeating the TH Bell Minutemen 20-16 in the title game played Thursday, Nov. 3, at Bonneville High School.
Wahlquist (Farr West) scored first when Cam Graves rushed in a touchdown from 5 yards out. The PAT (all point-after tries in junior high football are two-point conversion attempts) failed.
TH Bell (Washington Terrace) answered and took the lead late in the first quarter on a 50-yard QB keeper from Ashton Spackman, and Spackman threw a two-point pass to Caleb Hansen to put the Minutemen up 8-6.
Wahlquist (7-1) took a 14-8 lead into halftime when QB Calvin Cooper threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Ulm, and Cooper passed to Dean Hall for the two-point conversion.
TH Bell (6-2) knotted the game 14-14 in the fourth quarter when Hansen threw a halfback pass to Spackman for a touchdown on fourth down inside the Wahlquist 5. The Minutemen did not convert the PAT.
Wahlquist answered with a game-winning, 60-yard drive capped by a 5-yard touchdown run from Mathis Bell, with the point-after try no good, for a 20-14 lead.
Graves picked off a pass to end TH Bell’s final possession. On fourth down with 10 seconds left, Wahlquist QB Cooper evaded defenders and took a safety as time expired to avoid punting on the final play.
Wahlquist head coach Kelly Cooper credited defensive ends Jak Masters and Elliott Fenn with applying pressure and identified Ryker Shepherd and Devin Bodin as key contributors.
For TH Bell, Spackman’s approximate stats, as provided by head coach Trevor Morris, totaled 150 passing yards and 100 rushing, with Noah Chavez running for about 60 yards and Julius Byrd pulling in about 70 receiving yards.
The game pit the regular season’s best teams against each other. Each went 5-1 and Wahlquist defeated TH Bell 24-22 in the regular season before taking its only loss to Rocky Mountain (20-8) on the season’s final week.
In the playoff semifinals, Wahlquist avenged that loss with a hard-fought, 14-0 win over Rocky Mountain in a battle of Fremont High feeder schools. TH Bell sacked fellow Bonneville High feeder school South Ogden 40-0 in the other semifinal.
REGULAR-SEASON STANDINGS
Wahlquist 5-1
TH Bell 5-1
Rocky Mountain 3-3
South Ogden 3-3
Roy 3-3
Sand Ridge 2-4
Orion/North Ogden 0-6
