Box Elder football torched by Olympus passing game in 5A quarterfinal loss
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- Box Elder High’s Dax Sumko runs the ball during a 5A football state quarterfinal game against Olympus on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 at Box Elder High School.
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- Olympus High quarterback Chase Moseley throws the ball during a 5A football state quarterfinal game between Box Elder and Olympus on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 at Box Elder High School.
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- Box Elder High’s Brock Bissegger (70, right) and Cody Kaleikini (back) sack Olympus quarterback Chase Moseley during a 5A football state quarterfinal game against Olympus on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 at Box Elder High School.
BRIGHAM CITY — Before last week’s football playoff game against Maple Mountain, a medical helicopter landed on the grass field south of the Box Elder High School football stadium with the game ball, which Box Elder junior Easton Beauregard then delivered to the referees.
Before Friday’s 5A quarterfinal between No. 4 Box Elder and No. 5 Olympus, three parachuters with various colors of smoke trailing behind them dropped from the sky down to the field, one with the game ball and another with the American flag.
Then, it was Olympus High’s team that exhibited precise aerial delivery of the football.
On the first play of the game, Titans quarterback Chase Moseley threw a deep pass down the right side to Caden Lloyd, who made a twisting, bobbling catch while defended by Tyeson Hansen for a 37-yard gain.
The remainder of the Titans’ 41-14 playoff romp over the Bees (9-3) was largely the same.
Moseley, who Box Elder only sacked once thanks to constantly getting the ball out quickly, threw four first-half touchdown passes of 26, 44, 46 and 10 yards as they leaped to an astounding 31-0 halftime lead.
Box Elder’s Gauge Carrigan picked Moseley off on Olympus’ second drive, which was Moseley’s only lowlight of the first half.
Otherwise, Moseley sliced apart single coverage deep down the right side of the Bees’ defense all game, swiftly ended Box Elder’s season and sending his team to next week’s quasi-home game semifinal at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“Just sad, football’s done. I mean, I’ve played this game for 13 years and now it comes to an end, it’s kind of hard to process, pretty sad,” BE senior running back Dax Sumko said.
Moseley completed 24 of 26 passes for 353 yards, five touchdowns and one pick, according to Olympus’ team statistician. One incompletion was the Carrigan pick. For the other incompletion, the receiver fell down in the corner of the end zone late in the third quarter.
“We got pressure and he’d still sling it over to this guy, flip it back to that guy, I was very impressed with his ability to play football today,” BE coach Robbie Gunter said of Moseley. “They’re a really good football team, we saw it on film, but to see it live and have him do that was impressive.”
A couple plays later, Moseley had TD pass No. 5, turned to the Box Elder side of the field, blew the home fans a kiss and celebrated what was then a 41-0 lead and a running clock.
By then, the game was long over and had been over since the end of the second quarter.
“Olympus is — they’re a dang good team,” Sumko said.
The first critical sequence happened early in the second quarter when Box Elder, trailing 3-0, drove to the Olympus 1-yard line after the Carrigan interception.
The Bees false-started at the 1, then committed a holding penalty that wiped out Ryan Griffin’s touchdown run — then Ethan Barber hooked a 29-yard field goal.
A few plays later, Olympus led 10-0.
The next critical sequence happened over the final 4:05 of the first half.
“I love these guys for how hard they play, for all the effort they give, for preparation, but today it’s hard because we just didn’t — it wasn’t representative of how we’ve played. We made some mistakes early and it just kind of snowballed on us,” Gunter said.
After the Titans took a 17-0 lead at the 4:05 mark of the second quarter, Box Elder fumbled on its next drive (2:43), Olympus scored (24-0, 1:47), Box Elder fumbled a punt snap (0:44) and the Titans scored again (31-0, 0:38).
The Bees and their run-heavy offense aren’t built to come back from huge deficits, but 17 points would’ve been reasonable. Thirty-one was way too much. All told, Olympus outscored Box Elder 28-0 in the second quarter.
Two Sumko touchdown runs in the fourth quarter prevented the shutout. In an almost fitting end to the bruising running back’s high school career, the crack on top of his helmet expanded enough during the Olympus game that it dislodged the top part of his facemask.
“Finally last game, it finally failed,” Sumko said, then laughed and smiled while looking at the helmet. “I didn’t really feel it, I kind of got on the sideline and was like, ‘whoa I can fit my hand through my facemask now.’ I took it off I was like, ‘OK, that’s not good.'”
For the second year in a row, Box Elder’s season ended in the state quarterfinals.
“It was awesome,” Sumko said. “I don’t think there’s any other words I could say about it, it was awesome. The relationships I have, the brothers I have because of it, the people I’ve been able to meet through football this year, just all the memories, it’s been amazing.”
This year’s playoff loss brought Gunter’s 25-year football head coaching tenure to an end. Gunter, who’s now an assistant principal at BEHS, was Box Elder’s head coach for 15 seasons after spending six years at Viewmont and four at Preston (Idaho) in the same capacity.
“I just feel for these boys, they gave everything. They gave their heart and soul to us, and I love our coaches for preparing them and working, and our community, man. We had a great group out there, great support, students are amazing,” he said.
The football head coach job at BEHS was recently posted online, tied with a teaching job, as the school hopes to fill that spot by Christmas, athletic director Jesse Roberts said.
Connect with reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net, Twitter @patrickcarr_ and Instagram @standardexaminersports.