High school football: Olympus starts fast, rolls over Woods Cross in 5A playoffs

For the last several weeks, the Olympus football team has been removing any doubts coach Brandon Burt might have had about its potential.
The Titans gave themselves and their second-year coach even more confidence Friday evening, jumping on visiting Woods Cross with three quick touchdowns, and went on to rout the Wildcats 49-21 in a second-round matchup of the 5A state football playoffs.
Quarterback Max Rice threw four scoring passes and Caden Lloyd returned a kickoff 95 yards for a score as the Titans won their sixth straight game and advanced to the quarterfinals next week against Region 6 rival Brighton, which defeated Wasatch.
Olympus, which earned the No. 6 seed based on its 6-3 overall record, tied for first place with the Bengals but claimed a 13-0 win on Sept. 13 — the first contest in its two month-long win streak that has Burt thinking this could be a special season, even though Olympus started the year with only one victory in its first four games.
“We put it all together in all three facets (offense, defense and special teams),” said Burt. “I’m excited for our players. We’re not the biggest team out there but these guys come to play each week.”
Wood Cross coach Brody Benson said Olympus’ biggest attribute was its team speed and the Wildcats hoped to contain Rice by keeping him in the pocket, but the 5-foot-9, 155-pound senior still managed to escape and find open receivers.
And Olympus left no doubt. In fact, Rice had touchdown passes to Luke Campbell to end the Titans’ first two possessions, and he found Lloyd open on an 8-yard throw with 2:21 left in the first quarter to build a 21-0 margin.
“He got out of containment a few times and made plays,” said Benson, whose team finished its year with a 7-5 mark. “We didn’t play a bad game defensively. We make three or four tackles and this might have been a different game.
“Olympus is a good team. They have good speed and they made the plays.”
An interception by Olympus’ John Workman led to another touchdown — and a 28-0 lead — before Woods Cross made its only real threat.
Jesse Simmons completed a couple of long passes, and that led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Viliami Tapa’atoutai. However, Lloyd helped the Titans regain the momentum when he grabbed the ensuing kickoff at his 5-yard line and reached the end zone for the 19th time of his career.
With a 35-7 lead, the Titans also didn’t seem worried when Rice limped off the field late in the first half following a quarterback sack. He returned to start the second half under center and appeared healthy again.
Rice guided Olympus to a quick score (three plays) and forced the remainder of the game to be played with a running clock due to the UHSAA’s 35-point “Mercy rule.”
Rice completed 13 of 17 passes for 171 yards and no interceptions. Campbell was his favorite target, as he finished with five catches for 87 yards.
Campbell, Tommy Nelson and Sam Ngata each proved to be a big nemesis for the Woods Cross secondary as they frequently used their speed and quickness to break tackles and gain extra yards on short throws.
Olympus never attempted to establish a running game. Rice’s success on high-percentage passes, as well as his elusive receivers, kept the Wildcats frustrated enough.
Olympus’ 49 points was its season high, and the most Woods Cross gave up all season.