High school football: Mountain Crest defeats Box Elder in a thriller

In a back-and-forth contest, Mountain Crest held on for a thrilling victory as the Mustangs used a come-from-behind effort to take down Box Elder, 15-14, in front of their home crowd.

Box Elder had one last chance as kicker Ethan Barber stepped onto the field with less than 20 seconds to go in the game. With no timeouts left, the senior drilled the ball towards the uprights, but the 40-yard field goal drifted to the left, giving Mountain Crest the win.

“What a game,” Mountain Crest head coach Ryan Visser said. “Box Elder has a fantastic team and we knew it was going to be a dogfight, but I couldn’t be happier for our kids. To win like this and to battle back like they did was fun to see.”

“I’m so relieved that we won,” added Mountain Crest kicker/safety Dylan Buist. “I went for the block and just missed it, and then when I saw the ball drifting to the left I couldn’t have been happier.”

Buist ended up being the leading scorer on the night as he went a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal attempts in a game that the Mustangs needed all the points that they could get.

“As much as I like to kick, I prefer that we score touchdowns,” he said with a smile. “I know everyone trusts me and that gives me a lot of confidence to go out there and kick. I’m just happy that I could help us get the win.”

“I wasn’t sure who was going to be our kicker this year, but Dylan came in and worked so hard in the offseason and it showed tonight,” Visser added.

After a scoreless first quarter, Box Elder struck first as Jay Macias ran up the middle for a 23-yard touchdown to give the Bees a 7-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half.

Mountain Crest answered right back as the Mustangs cut the deficit to 7-3 thanks to a 28-yard field goal from Buist. The Mustangs were looking to tie things up with the ball inside the 10-yard line, but Mountain Crest couldn’t take advantage as Box Elder’s Aaron Taylor got a big sack to force the field goal.

With just three minutes left in the half, Box Elder tried running out the clock, but the Mustangs made a stand and took over on their own 20-yard line after a long punt.

With 1:23 left in the first half, quarterback Brayden Larsen threw a screen pass to Mikah Clements who made a couple defenders miss and almost scored before a diving tackle saved the day for the Bees.

The 45-yard gain gave Mountain Crest the ball on the 35-yard line but once again, the Bees defense held in the red zone and forced the Mustangs to try another field goal as Buist stepped up and connected on a 27-yard attempt to cut the deficit to 7-6 at the half.

After regrouping at halftime, Mountain Crest came out and took its first lead of the game as Buist connected on a 14-yard field goal – his third of the game – to give the Mustangs a 9-7 lead with 3:25 left in the third quarter.

Box Elder took a 14-9 lead with just under nine minutes to go in the game thanks to a big rushing attack by the three-headed monster of quarterback Carter Buchanan and running backs Jay Macias and Tyeson Hansen.

With the ball inside the 5-yard line, Buchanan faked the handoff and rumbled into the end zone to give the Bees the lead.

On the next offensive series for Mountain Crest, the Mustangs drew up a trick play as Larsen faked a screen pass to Clements which allowed Kael Olsen, a sophomore, to sneak down the field.

The sophomore caught the ball for a big gain, but another shoe-string tackle kept the Mustangs out of the end zone — temporarily.

A few plays later, Larsen scrambled down to the 12-yard line for another first down. After picking up another first down at the 2-yard line, it looked like the Bees were going to make another stand and force a field goal.

But running back Preston Arambel wasn’t having it as the senior took the handoff and powered his way into the end zone, with the help of his offensive line.

“Nobody was going to stop him,” said Larsen. “I wanted to score so bad, and it was amazing to be able to finally get a touchdown for our team.

“I couldn’t have done it without the offensive line. I thought I had scored but they didn’t signal anything, and my line just kept pushing me forward. It was a total team effort tonight and everyone gave it their all.”

With a few minutes left in the game, Box Elder drove down the field and had the ball on the 15-yard line. With no timeouts, the Bees were looking to throw the ball, but an all-out blitz by the Mustangs forced Box Elder quarterback Carter Buchanan to take a sack.

Junior linebacker Carter Egbert got credited with the sack, but three other Mustangs were right there, too.

“We needed to make a big play and the boys did exactly that,” Visser said. “Without that play, the kick probably wouldn’t have missed so while it didn’t seem like much to some, that extra 10 yards made a difference and helped us get the win.”

With the victory, Mountain Crest improves to 2-0 on the season and will look to keep its undefeated season alive next Friday at home against East.

With the heartbreaking loss, Box Elder drops to 1-1 on the year and will look to regroup at home against rival Bear River.