Clearfield • One play oftentimes can change the direction of a game.
It may have taken the Weber Warriors a while to find that big play. But once they found it, it turned the direction of their Region 1 contest with Clearfield in their direction Friday night.
Weber senior Ty Barnett took the opening kick to the second half and raced 85 yards to give the Warriors a 10-0 lead. Barnett burst through a hole on the right side and was gone. It was the play the Warriors had been looking for and only needed 15 seconds after the intermission to get.
“It was huge,” Weber senior quarterback Austin Bartholomew said. “We talked about that in the locker room [at halftime]. Let’s get the momentum going.”
Bartholomew was steady and poised in the pocket for the Warriors. He completed 8 of 9 passes in the first half and rushed for 40 yards on a drive in the first quarter that resulted in a 25-yard field goal.
PLAYER OF THE GAME <br>Weber senior quarterback Austin Bartholomew finished 10-of-13 passing in the win. He did most of his damage in the first half when he completed 8 of his 9 attempts for 36 yards. He rushed 11 times for 70 yards, including 40 yards on the Warriors’ opening drive, which resulted in a field goal.
Playing behind center is something Bartholomew, who started playing the sport at the age of 7, has done for much of his young life.
“It’s so much fun,” he said. “There’s not anything else I would rather do on a Friday night.”
Bartholomew had thrown for 513 yards through the first two games. And though he was limited to 10 of 13 for 69 yards in Friday’s win, he says the second-half kick return was the turning point in the game.
Bartholomew also ran the ball 11 times for 70 yards. He got help from teammates Colton Jones and Carter Green, who both added second-half touchdowns to help ice the win.
Bartholomew was quick to credit the play of his team’s defense.
“It was our first shutout” in a few years, he said.
Clearfield's opening drive ends on this QB sack and fumble #utahpreps pic.twitter.com/hWbA4Fejd1
— Mark Jones (@MarkIJones27) September 2, 2017
Weber coach Matt Hammer praised the play of his senior QB in the win.
“He’s a calm, cool kid who is familiar with what he can and can’t do,” Hammer said.
Clearfield senior quarterback Jaxon Mansfield completed 10 of 25 passes for 100 yards in the loss.