Pleasant View • Finding the players who handled the ball wasn’t all that hard of a task after the Weber-Viewmont football game ended Friday night.
Because those with the ball most often ended up on the turf, a very muddy one at that in certain areas. And those with dirt on their uniforms took a certain amount of satisfaction at their appearance.
But Austin Bartholomew, Weber High’s quarterback, didn’t seem entirely satisfied following a 37-17 victory by his Warriors over the visiting Vikings.
“I need to get dirtier, play harder,” Bartholomew said with a laugh.
PLAYER OF THE GAME <br>Austin Bartholomew paced Weber by completing 14 of his 22 pass attempts for 208 yards. Most of that was accomplished in the first half when the senior quarterback found eight different Warriors receivers for completions.
Weber (4-1) won its fourth game in a row after dropping the season-opener to American Fork.
Against Viewmont (3-2), it took a little bit of fortune and a bunch of skill early in the third quarter for the Warriors to create a two-possession lead.
Weber got a huge 72-yard touchdown run from the player behind center early in the second half. That wasn’t Bartholomew, however. Receiver Colton Jones initially bobbled the direct snap before gathering himself enough to find daylight.
Jones’ race to the end zone gave Weber a 24-10 lead, and Viewmont never was able to get within a touchdown again.
“I didn’t even know what happened until I watched it on film on the sideline,” said Bartholomew about Jones’ scoring run. “It was incredible. I was just running down the field with it. I think that’s the fastest I’ve run all season.”
But Bartholomew certainly did his part when the ball came his way.
The Warriors’ senior connected on 14 of his 22 pass attempts for 208 yards. Most of that was accomplished in the first half when he found eight different receivers.
“I just drop back and throw to the open guy,” Bartholomew said. “We have at least three different options on each play, and I just go through the progressions.”
Weber running back Carter Green, who finished with 107 yards, scored three touchdowns. The other run to pay dirt, besides Jones’ long jaunt, came on a 5-yard interception return by Ryan Hogge with 4 minutes, 10 seconds left in the third quarter.
Viewmont took its only lead with four minutes left in the opening period when Davis Weir found Jackson Barber for a 15-yard TD pass. Weir threw for 234 yards, including 138 to receiver Lucas Bushey, while Vikings running back Cameron Brown totaled 86 yards on the ground.
“We got out of region for a game, and we’ve got a very good Syracuse team next week. Austin did a great job of distributing the ball, and we were very well-rounded,” said Weber coach Matt Hammer, who missed the first half of the game after being ejected in the Warriors’ last game.
“I spent it in the [school’s] commons, and it was terrible. I was actually watching it on the live feed, so that was good.”