Getting it done with defense

I’m starting to wonder if I’m going to witness a high-scoring football game again this season.

Two out of the past three weeks, I have been on the sidelines for textbook defensive slugfests where the scoreboard never went past single digits.

I was on hand when Bonneville upset Ogden 7-6 — completely shutting down a once high-flying offense and sending the Tigers on the beginning of what has turned into a three game skid after a 5-0 start.

Then, on Friday, I stood on the sidelines and witnessed Bountiful fall from the unbeaten ranks at the hands of Highland. The Rams upended the Braves 9-7 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score indicated.

Highland exposed the Braves’ lack of punch on offense — something that has been an achilles heel for Bountiful in recent seasons. They held Bountiful to a paltry 137 yards of total offense. Almost half of that tally came on a single big play — a 59 yard touchdown pass from Ty Talbot to Ryen Pope late in the second quarter that tied the game at 7-7.

I felt much more impressed with this low scoring affair than the one I saw at Bonneville High simply because this was a by-product of putting two good defensive teams on the same field.

When the Lakers squeezed out a one-point victory over Ogden, the Tigers statistically dominated for four quarters in several key categories, but ultimately unraveled under a mountain of stupid penalties and troubles converting in the red zone.

With Highland’s victory, however, the Rams did not beat Bountiful as a result of luck or a fluke. Their offense had little trouble moving the ball on one of the state’s better defenses — churning up 321 yards of total offense on the night. Highland probably would have won by a wider margin if it could have converted more often on trips into the red zone.

The Rams missed a field goal that could have given them a 3-0 lead in the second quarter. And Highland had another field goal miss less than a minute into the fourth quarter and had a third blocked about halfway through the quarter.

But those missed chances never ended up mattering because Highland’s defense did not let them matter. Brody Benson said the unit has come along way since getting torched by the likes of Mountain Crest and Skyline early in the season.

“Our defense has been so tough,” Benson said. “It’s so good because we struggled a little defensively early on and these kids are coming together. They believe in each other. They believe in the coaching staff. They believe in the guy next to them. And it’s great.”

Defense is exactly why Highland now finds itself on top of Region 6 and in the 4A conversation once again. And defensive excellence is not just limited to the Rams.

Brighton has enjoyed a resurgence behind a strong defense that is allowing 17.7 fewer points per game than the Bengals did a year ago. And Syracuse is holding onto the top spot in Region 1 after giving up just 9.6 points per game. The Titans have allowed just 21 points in their last three games — including, most recently, a 9-0 victory over a Weber team sporting a potent offense.

It will be interesting to see how far defense can carry some of these teams when the playoffs arrive in the next few weeks.

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