High school football: Olympus overpowers Box Elder to advance to 5A semifinals for the first time since 2018
The last time Olympus and Box Elder met in the playoffs was a double overtime thriller, with the Bees holding on for a 28-21 victory back in 2016.
There was no suspense this time around.
On Friday, the Titans led from start to finish en route to a dominant 41-14 road victory in the 5A quarterfinals to keep their season alive and punch their ticket to the 5A semifinals next week at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The victory was the sixth in a row for Olympus, which will next play Timpview.
“Box Elder is a great team that can really score,” said Olympus head coach Brandon Burt. “They average more than 35 points per game, so it was a long, tough week preparing for them just because we knew how good they are on offense.
To hold them to 14 points, with the two touchdowns coming late in the game, I was thrilled with how the defense played. They did outstanding, and I couldn’t be prouder of our guys.”
The Titans defense came in allowing just 14 points per game, and it held Box Elder to exactly that as Olympus’ stifling defense kept a lid on the Bees’ high-powered offense.
The defense not only had a goal line stand and forced several fumbles, but it also recovered a botched Box Elder punt and came up with big stops on fourth down as the Bees turned the ball over on downs a number of times.
“The defense was outstanding … you couldn’t get better than that,” said Olympus quarterback Chase Moseley. “Our first team unit shut them out the entire game and we’re one step closer to our goal.”
On the other side of the ball, the Titans’ offense couldn’t be stopped as the team punted the ball just once the entire game.
With a mix of runs and passes, Olympus had the Bees guessing the entire night. That opened up the passing lanes as Moseley completed 24 of 26 passes for 353 yards and five touchdowns, including 20 straight completions at one point.
The 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior came into the game 100 yards shy of the school single-season record, and by the end of the afternoon, the record was all his with 2,866 yards and with at least one more game to play.
“I didn’t know I broke a record, but that’s pretty cool,” Moseley said. “I’m sure one day I’ll look back on that, but right now, all of my focus is on this team and winning a state championship.”
With a talented group of playmakers in Luke Bryant, Ty Seagle and Caden Lloyd, Moseley got the ball out quick and let his teammates do the rest.
“Those guys are unbelievable and are always making guys miss and making big plays,” said Moseley. “As a quarterback it makes my job easy because I know they will catch anything that comes their way.”
Both Seagle and Lloyd each had two touchdowns on the day. Lloyd had over 100 yards receiving, as he hauled in a 44-yard touchdown catch and then followed it up a couple minutes later with a 46-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.
Seagle then followed up with back-to-back touchdowns as Olympus took a commanding 41-0 lead into the fourth quarter.
Right after that play, Moseley blew a kiss to the Box Elder student section as the running clock started.
“Chase continues to throw the ball extremely well and it’s fun watching his confidence grow each week,” Burt said. “The offensive line played really well and gave him plenty of time to throw the ball, and our playmakers did the rest.”
With the loss, Box Elder (9-3, 5-2) ended its season with nine wins for the second year in a row. Just like last year, the Bees lost in the 5A quarterfinals.
Playing in front of the home crowd, Box Elder was looking to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2006, but that’s going to have to wait another year after Friday’s disappointing loss.
Dax Sumko, who came in with nearly 1,800 yards and 20 touchdowns on the season, added to his impressive campaign, as he scored the two rushing touchdowns late in the came to get the Bees on the scoreboard.
