‘Right the ship’: Syracuse football owns 2nd half to tally signature win against Alta
Syracuse 28, Alta 7
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- Syracuse defenders Kaleb Hall, left, and Caleb Brown (25) crunch Alta ball carrier Lucas Pagel (5) during a football game Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High quarterback Ledger Wight (4) navigates the sideline against Alta defender Hosny Suliman (9) during a football game Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High’s Kao Prom, right, looks in a pass from Ledger Wight, left, during a football game Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High players celebrate scoring a touchdown against Alta during a football game Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High’s Kao Prom (7) runs the football past Alta’s Thomas Deckart (32) during a football game Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High defenders Kaleb Hall (0) and Tay Burgoyne (21) bring down Alta’s Lucas Pagel (5) during a football game Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Alta High’s Bronson Schriever looks toward a ref hoping for a penalty flag during a football game Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High’s Kao Prom carries the football during a football game against Alta on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High’s Isaac Edwards puts down a hold for an extra-point attempt during a football game against Alta on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
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- Syracuse High students cheer during a football game Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Syracuse. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)
SYRACUSE — It’s not that the ship was sinking — Syracuse has too much talent for that — but with only one week until the start of a quick four-game Region 1 schedule, the Titans were seeking some positive momentum.
They came into Friday’s final non-league contest with only a single win in four attempts. Even the isolated triumph was discounted, as it came against a winless Granger squad that had been outscored 187-13 four weeks into the season.
The Titans needed a signature victory and a 3-1 Alta team presented just that opportunity.
Syracuse took advantage of the opportunity, breaking open a tight game after a slow start and scoring touchdowns on three of its four full second-half possessions to earn a 28-7 victory.
“(The win) was huge. We needed to right the ship,” Syracuse head coach Mitch Tulane said. “Sunday coaches meeting and Monday meetings with the players were getting real old about the coulda, shoulda, wouldas, and so we needed this one.”
Alta missed a field goal on its opening drive and, save for one play, never really threatened after that. Meanwhile, the Syracuse offense moved the ball well but only had a precarious 7-0 lead at the break to show for it.
The only points came on a Ledger Wight pass to Parker Moffat for a 15-yard touchdown. Wight lofted it up and Moffat made the play down the right sideline to make it 7-0.
“We needed to play four quarters,” Tulane said. “We’ve been up and tied in every single one of our games and just haven’t been able to finish them. We’ve been figuring out a way not to win the game, but ways to lose the game.
“At halftime, being up 7-0, that was kind of my message to them: ‘Guys, same place we’ve been all year long. What are we going to do different in the second half?’ The offense finally got some momentum, put drives together and didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot.”
After a lengthy homecoming ceremony, a rejuvenated Syracuse squad emerged from the locker room with Wight at the controls. The senior quarterback engineered an 80-yard scoring drive, finding Bo Metcalfe on a crossing route for a 25-yard touchdown to make it 14-0.
The rhythmless Alta offense struggled to move the ball but, as soon as it looked like the Hawks were defeated, a 76-yard touchdown brought them back to life. Quarterback Xavier Cocci lasered a completion down the middle of the field to Ryland Clayton, who put a nifty spin move on the Syracuse defenders and outran the Titans to cut the lead in half.
But in a moment of adversity, the Titans found the ingredient they had been missing all year and punched back.
Wight countered the Alta touchdown with his third of the game. He dumped a short pass to sophomore Kao Prom at the Alta 19; Prom broke some tackles and scored standing up to make it 21-7.
After the Syracuse defense forced a fourth-down incompletion, the Titans added some insurance with 7:22 to play. Wight threw a touchdown to his fourth different receiver, this time finding Ryder Martinez wide open in the end zone on a blown coverage. Martinez bobbled it initially before securing it for a 27-yard score.
“Besides the one thing that happened, the one play there (where Alta scored), I thought defensively, we kind of got back to playing the way I want to play defense — real physically,” Tulane said.
“Homecoming is huge for us. We do the ‘Americuse’ thing and the atmosphere here is crazy. I told the guys, ‘The community deserves a win, right? So go out and play for them.’ And they did.”
The Titans, who finished with nearly 450 yards of total offense, will travel to Layton next week to open Region 1 play. Syracuse has beaten the Lancers 16 straight times, while allowing eight points or less in 11 of those matchups.
