High school football: Owen Simkins leads Fremont past Weber in rivalry showdown, Silverwolves remain atop Region 1

Playing in front of a packed crowd inside Moyes Stadium, Fremont – which entered Thursday’s matchup against Weber undefeated in Region 1 – put on a show.

The Silverwolves scored a minute into the game and didn’t look back as they rolled to a 35-21 victory over their rival.

With the team motto ‘Play with high energy and not high emotion,’ the Silverwolves did just that as they scored on the second play of the game.

Weber quarterback Crew Cacciacarne’s pass went into traffic and bounced off Fremont linebacker Dax Child and landed right into the hands of Fremont safety Salesi Moa, who weaved his way around several defenders and returned it 25 yards for the score to give the Silverwolves an early 7-0 lead.

Weber answered right before the end of the quarter thanks to an interception by defensive back Tyson Higgs. Fremont’s Manase Tuatagaloa threw a pass over the middle to Zach Masters, which bounced off his hands and popped high into the air.

Higgs was there to grab it and returned it to the 36 yard line. Two plays later running back Dyson Parker caught a pass and rumbled down to the 1-yard line. The junior running back then finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

“Weber is a great team and I’m proud of our guys,” said Fremont head coach Nate Tuatagaloa. “As a coach you couldn’t have asked for a better start. Dax made a terrific play by tipping the ball and Salesi did the rest. We knew it was going to be a battle and our guys showed up and made big plays when we needed them to.”

Speaking of big plays, Fremont, which was up 21-14 in the third quarter and deep in their own territory, decided to go for it on 4th-and-two midway through the third quarter.

Fremont converted it with a pass to Cade Hadley, but a five-yard penalty push Fremont back around its own 30-yard line. Despite being faced with 4th-and-7, the Fremont coaching staff had full faith and still went for it and drew up another play get Hadley open and the ball.

The junior got open, caught the pass and then ran down the field for a 45-yard gain. Moa then followed it up by hurdling over a Weber defender and running back Owen Simkins finished the drive off with a 7-yard touchdown to give Fremont a 28-14 lead.

“Those were both great play calls by the offensive staff. We saw some things on film, and we called it and it worked perfectly… both times,” coach Tuatagaloa said with a smile.

“We have a lot of confidence in our guys, and if for some reason we didn’t convert, we wouldn’t have questioned it. We practice those and it paid off again.”

Simkins, who finished with three touchdowns on the night, had the longest play of the game as he took a short pass and turned it into a 70-yard score at the end of the third quarter.

“Manase called the play and I caught the ball and turned around and there was nobody around me,” said Simkins. “I was determined to score and wasn’t going to let anyone stop me, but fortunately I got a great block by Jace Hadley to help spring me into the end zone.”

That score put Fremont up 35-14 at the end of the quarter and put the game out of reach.

Weber scored one more touchdown right before the game was over as wide receiver Ian Elmore took a pass and scored from 40 yards out to pull the Warriors within two touchdowns.

It was the second connection between Cacciacarne and Elmore as the two connected on a 20-yard touchdown right before the half to pull the Warriors within a touchdown at that time.

But that’s as close as they would get as a stifling Fremont defense didn’t allow the Warriors to do much on offense.

As expected in a heated rivalry game, both teams were chippy and between both programs, there seemed to be more than 250 yards of total penalties.

“That’s a rivalry game for you,” said Simkins with a big smile after the game. “The atmosphere was electric, and you live for these moments as a player. Rivalry games, packed stadiums, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

The only thing better is a win next week over Farmington as the Silverwolves can claim the Region 1 title outright with a win. A loss would force a tie between both schools after Farmington took down Davis to move just a game behind Fremont.

Up next for Weber is a game at Layton, which hasn’t won a game yet in Region 1. If the Warriors win, they’ll finish tied for fourth in the region.