Prep football: Sudden QB change hampers West Field in 30-7 loss to Mountain Crest
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- West Field junior Brexton White (53), senior Stone Seaich (59) and senior Cash Colohan (21) bring down Mountain Crest senior Preston Arambel (1) during a home game on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Taylor.
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- West Field seniors Tyce Abbott (20) and Treyson Hunt (39) look to the sideline during a home game vs. Mountain Crest on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Taylor.
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- West Field senior Treyson Hunt (39) runs the football during a home game vs. Mountain Crest on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Taylor.
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- The West Field football team gets set to take the field before a home game vs. Mountain Crest on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Taylor.
TAYLOR — Playing football on TV for the first time, West Field hardly resembled the team that picked up its first win in school history one week ago.
Mountain Crest stalled the Longhorns at nearly every juncture, ascending to a 30-7 win Thursday on the road.
Positives were few and far between for West Field (1-5, 1-2 Region 11) throughout a scoreless first half. The Mustangs (4-2, 2-1) jumped to a two-score lead by the end of the first quarter and reduced West Field’s run game within a thin window.
An already-strained West Field depth chart endured another shakeup with quarterback Hinckley Keele missing action due to an injury, putting senior Tyce Abbott back under center. West Field head coach Eric Jones said losing their starter on Tuesday put their game plan on the rocks with little time to adjust.
“We didn’t have much time to prep (Abbott),” Jones said. “We got in as many reps as we could on Tuesday … We just didn’t play very well, pretty sloppy.
“I’ve been happy with (the defense), each week we take some different strides forward, but obviously giving up 30 isn’t going to help you win a football game.”
Senior Carter Wilson, sacking Mountain Crest’s Brayden Larsen in the red zone to force a dicey fourth-and-16, came up with the Longhorns’ only stop of the first half that forced a missed 30-yard field goal by Dylan Buist.
With 7:34 to go in the second quarter, Jones decided his Longhorns would go for it on fourth-and-2 from their own 41-yard line, but a straight-line dash by Abbott fell short of the sticks.
The turnover resulted in a long touchdown run by Mountain Crest’s Thompson Flippence a play later. Jones acknowledged that part of the battle this season is deflecting discouragement.
“It’s hard for sure, mentally, more than anything on young kids,” Jones said. “They’ve got to understand that if they keep working hard and doing things the right way, in time, things will always get better. The first year is always an uphill climb for most new schools.”
Making a quick stop, the Mustangs burned clock under two minutes before tacking on another score — Larsen spotting Mikah Clements with a TD short pass — shortly before the half.
It was Wilson, again, delivering a breath of life for West Field when the senior tackle scooped up a Larsen fumble inside the Longhorns’ 32-yard line with about seven minutes left in the third quarter.
The takeaway dissolved, however, into yet another punt operation by West Field’s special teams unit following three unsuccessful downfield looks from Abbott.
Holding Mountain Crest to a short-range field goal in the third quarter, West Field entered the final 12 minutes of play with a tad more grit after sophomore Daison Merrill picked off Larsen deep in enemy territory.
Carries between Treyson Hunt and Kamden Murphy brought the Longhorns inside the Mountain Crest 5 but the tide crashed. West Field exhausted its remaining tries and turned the ball back over to Mountain Crest following an Abbott incompletion fourth-and-goal.
The West Field defense picked up a late stop and handed possession to the offense with little more than four minutes to go. The final push saw Abbott and sophomore Phoenix Sandoval connect for a 29-yard touchdown pass.
Jones noted that, between injuries and sudden changes at practice, the number of players gaining real-time varsity experience under “Friday night lights” has more than pleased the West Field coach six weeks in.
“The preparation of things and knowing what it takes, whether it’s film study or practice habits, to come out and have a chance — but we’re a ways off in the weight room from being able to physically compete with some of these teams,” Jones said.
West Field welcomes in Spanish Fork on Friday, Sept. 27. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
BOX SCORE
West Field 0 0 0 7 – 7
Mtn Crest 13 14 3 0 – 30
SCORING LOG
FIRST QUARTER
8:41 – Mountain Crest TD: Larsen 23-yard run. PAT good (WF 0, MC 7)
2:42 – Mountain Crest TD: Arambel 7-yard run. Two-point try unsuccessful (WF 0, MC 13)
SECOND QUARTER
6:30 – Mountain Crest TD: T. Flippence 41-yard run. PAT good (WF 0, MC 20)
1:25 – Mountain Crest TD: Clements short pass from Larsen. PAT good (WF 0, MC 27)
THIRD QUARTER
0:20 – Mountain Crest field goal: Buist 30-yards (WF 0, MC 30)
FOURH QUARTER
2:19 – West Field TD: Sandoval 29-yard pass from Abbott. PAT good (WF 7, MC 30)
Connect with prep sports reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
