Week 7 - Deseret News

Cottonwood Air Attack Too Much For Highland

By James Edward
Deseret News

Cottonwood found a weakness in Highland's pass defense Friday night and attacked it over and over and over again.

Steve Romero connected on touchdown passes of 80, 83 and 74 yards — all in the first half — in setting the tone for Cottonwood's dominating 32-21 victory over Region 6 foe Highland.

"It's a great win and a great win for our kids," said Cottonwood coach Cecil Thomas.

Despite throwing for 350 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for another, it was probably Romero's worst game of the season, according to his coach. In addition to his lengthy TDs, he also threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles that were returned for touchdowns.

Romero's first fumble gifted Highland its only lead of the game midway through the second quarter as Muli Kinikini picked it up and darted 40 yards for a 7-6 lead.

Highland seemed poised to build on the momentum, with Cottonwood facing a third-and-10 on its next series. With better pass coverage, perhaps it would have unfolded that way. Romero connected with Jason Lundquist on an 83-yard strike right up the gut of Highland's defense, putting the Colts back in front 12-7.

Romero's third touchdown of the game was the dagger. After a Highland 12-play, seven-minute drive stalled deep in Cottonwood's territory with under a minute remaining, the Colts capitalized quickly as Romero hooked up with Ali Moli on a 76-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds remaining in the half.

Moli ran virtually the same route his teammates did on their long touchdowns to give Highland an 18-7 halftime lead.

"There was a lot of stuff we could take advantage of based on what they were giving us," said Thomas.

The win helped Cottonwood improve to 7-0 on the season, and sets the stage for a big region showdown next Friday against East, a game that will realistically determine the Region 6 championship.

Even though Romero added a 36-yard touchdown run and then a 52-yard screen pass touchdown to Isi Sofele in the second half, it was the play of Cottonwood's defense that Thomas was most pleased about. Of Highland's three scores, two were on fumble recoveries and the third was on a Nick Orchard to Zach Baucom touchdown pass in the final two minutes with Cottonwood in a preventive defense.

"Thank goodness the defense came out and played as well as they did. They carried us tonight for sure," said Thomas.

Cottonwood's defense forced three turnovers, but more importantly never allowed Highland's offense to get much of anything going offensively despite a big advantage in time of possession and first downs. The Colts limited Highland to methodical drives that often stalled just outside of field goal range.

REGION: Region 06
GAME DATE: Friday, October 03, 2008

Cottonwood 32, Highland 21
Steve Romero only completed 8 of 18 passes, but he made them count by throwing for 350 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Colts to a convincing win over the Rams.

TEAMS (REGION, OVERALL)

FINAL

Cottonwood (4-0, 7-0)	6	12	7	7	-	32
Highland (2-2, 4-3)	0	7	0	14	-	21

SCORING PLAYS
COTTONWOOD - Hudson 80 pass from Romero (Fail kick)
HIGHLAND - Kinikini 40 fumble recovery (Hicken kick)
COTTONWOOD - Lundquist 83 pass from Romero (Fail pass)
COTTONWOOD - Moli 74 pass from Romero (Fail kick)
COTTONWOOD - Romero 36 run (Beveridge kick)
HIGHLAND - Ferrin 15 fumble recovery (Fail kick)
COTTONWOOD - Sofele 52 pass from Romero (Beveridge kick)
HIGHLAND - Baucom 19 pass from Orchard (B. Walzer run)