High school football: Olympus buries East, looks toward another region title run

After a series of disappointing losses, the Olympus Titans are back in the hunt for the Region 6 championship.
Senior Max Rice got the starting nod at quarterback and threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns as the Titans celebrated homecoming with a comfortable 33-10 win over East Friday.
Sam Ngata, playing in his first game for the Titans since transferring from Park City, caught two scoring throws and Tom Nelson and Luke Campbell each had one.
Olympus led 14-2 at halftime but blew open the game in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns and two field goals from Isaac Green, including a 50-yarder.
“This one felt good,” said Olympus coach Brandon Burt, whose team improved to 2-1 in region and 3-3 overall, and felt much more confident despite the three defeats coming by seven total points.
“I’m proud of our team. We’ll be in the thick of (region).”
Not surprisingly, East’s game plan was to run the ball directly at the Titans’ defense. The Leopards took the opening kickoff and held on to the ball for over eight minutes, but their 16-play drive ended when they fell short of the end zone on 4th-and-goal.
Olympus took over and never really tried to establish the run. Instead, Rice completed five straight passes, including a 43-yarder to Nelson for a 7-0 lead.
Rice played a nearly flawless game and found his receiver on 11 of his first 12 throws.
“I just wanted to get into a rhythm,” Rice said. “(The Leopards) were giving us the underneath stuff and sometimes I was able to run free and find some guys open downfield.”
Olympus scored on consecutive drives in the second half and then took advantage of East miscues (penalties and fumbles) that led to a pair of field goals by Green.
A bad snap thwarted a 51-yard attempt early in the game, and he missed badly on a 52-yarder against the wind in the second quarter. However, the 50-yarder with the wind at his back easily got through the uprights and he finished the Titans’ 19-0 scoring run in the third quarter with a 24-yard effort
In-between, Olympus defenders like Ryder Birdsley (two fumble recoveries), Kingston Nugent and Nate Sheets kept East frustrated. East’s offense was unable to find any consistency except for running back Nasio Otukolo, who had 97 yards rushing on 17 carries.
The Leopards completed just two passes and their only touchdown came on Otukolo’s 3-yard run with 10:15 left, which was followed by a successful two-point conversion.
East also earned a safety when Olympus’ snap sailed over the punter’s head into the end zone.
“We’re playing better and coming together as a team,” said Rice.
“We’re playing good defense and Max is learning how to best use his skills,” added Burt. “If we don’t turn it over, we’re a good team and we’ll try to turn it up as we get further into the season.
“Hats off to (East coach) Brandon Matich. He always brings a competitive team and it takes a good effort to get the best of them.”
East fell to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in region.