High school football: Alta scores 21 unanswered points to topple Brighton 24-10

As the Brighton pass rush closed on Alta quarterback Tevita Niumeitolu, his short toss found tough runner Nolan Lohnes’ hands before Lohnes turned upfield, followed his blocks and blew open the game with a 38-yard screen pass scoring rumble.

After a first half of stutters and stops Friday night, the Hawks scored 21 unanswered points after halftime sparked with Lohnes’ touchdown to top Region 6 rival Brighton, 24-10.

“That was all our lineman and Nolan, I just had to get it off,” Niumeitolu said. “I watched it all unfold.”

Brighton opened the scoring with defensive back turned quarterback starter Kaden Morzelewski. Morzelweski capitalized on a missed Alta field goal, romping for big gains with a few shotgun keepers before burrowing into the end zone from one yard out and a 7-0 Brighton lead with 10:27 left in the second quarter.

Alta found momentum in the option game between Niumeitolu and Lohnes but stalled again to settle for a 37-yard field goal from Thiago Moreira to make it 7-3.

Alta’s secondary committed a pair of costly pass interference and targeting penalties to put the Bengals into scoring position once more to end the half. Drake Fletcher booted a 37-yard attempt through the uprights as time expired for a 10-3 Brighton lead at halftime.

Alta coach Alema Te’o credited his senior players on the Hawks’ senior night with flipping the switch in the locker room and the Hawks grabbed the steering wheel from there.

“They were pretty fired up at halftime, they knew that we had the ability to beat these guys,” Te’o said. “We were able to bring out what we’ve always been capable of doing all year long.”

After Lohnes tied it up with 4:54 left in the third quarter, the Alta defense forced a punt and Niumeitolu dropped a sideline throw into the hands of wide receiver Garth Weber for a huge gain before gobbling up more yardage on a curl route to Abinadi Jager.

“I got all the faith in the world to throw them the ball, man,” Niumeitolu said.

Lohnes, who credits the inspiration for his running style to Atlanta Falcons rusher Bijan Robinson, barreled forward to the goal line and backup quarterback Matthew Mckea finished the drive with a dive from short distance to make it 17-10 with 9:10 left in the game.

The Alta defense forced a Brighton fumble and the Hawks went back to work with another short field on Brighton’s 26-yard line. Lohnes’ tough running and a connection between Niumeitolu and tight end Wyatt Johnson teed up another 1-yard Mckea reach over the goal line and the 24-10 difference with just under three minutes left in the game.

“Lohnes, he’s a grinder, man, we give him the ball and he gives us what he can,” Te’o said.

Linebacker Kalvin Liava’a plucked a desperation heave interception from Morzelewski to preserve Alta’s second half shutout and close out the game.

Te’o said it’s important for his team to finish strong in this stretch of the season as Alta marches toward the playoffs.

“At any rate, it’s a good time to wake up, you know what I mean? Right now, going into October, the team who plays the best and is the healthiest is going to have a shot,” Te’o said. “Hopefully that’s going to be us.”