by Daniel Olsen | The Skyline Eagles had a season to remember as they entered the final game of the regular season undefeated. The final game is one they’d like to forget.
In a packed stadium at Olympus High School, the Olympus Titans won 28 to 21 made sure that everyone remembered that The Rock (the traveling trophy in the rivalry) will keep its green coat of paint for the third straight year.
As has normally been the case, this rivalry game was close from the beginning until the very end. If there was a year for Skyline to take the trophy back from Olympus, this was it. Braxton Bolingbroke is one of the better quarterbacks that Skyline has had in quite sometime. Those that know this rivalry know that the Eagles have relied on talented quarterbacks the years they have beaten the Titans.
Since the retirement of legendary Skyline coach Roger Dupaix, Olympus has dominated the Eagles in the last decade under the direction of former Skyline graduate Coach Aaron Whitehead.
It wasn’t easy for the Titans early on. They opened their first drive with a fumble which quickly turned into an easy touchdown for the Eagles. They responded with two rushing touchdowns of their own to take a 14-7 lead.
Late in the game Skyline was down 21-14. With about three minutes to go, the Eagles converted a fourth down pass in the end zone to tie up the game. This got both crowds going as the visitors made some noise while some super fans in the home student section were caught on camera screaming in their throwback NBA jerseys.
That drive was especially interesting as there were two controversial plays at the end zone. The first time Olympus almost scored and it was hard to tell where the ball was when the knee hit the ground. When Olympus finally did score, there was some doubt on the replay of whether the ball hit the ground before the receiver had control. Overall, the Eagles scored when they needed to so they deserved that touchdown. Unfortunately for them, they left too much time on the clock.
With the game tied up, Olympus quarterbackTommy Hogan drove the ball down the field and eventually scored the game winning touchdown. It was a strange moment as the play was breaking down and he had no choice but to scramble. Once he did, the end zone came to him.
Playoff Impact: With this win, the Olympus Titans improve to 6-4 on the season with convincing wins over rivals Highland and Skyline this year. They will likely get a favorable mid-tier seed and look to make some noise in the playoffs. Skyline will likely still get one of the top seeds despite the loss as they improve to 7-1. Brighton remains the only undefeated team in 5A at 9-0 so they will likely get the top seed with 8-1 Bonneville being the only other one loss team.
Look for Olympus to make some surprises but their Cinderella run looks like it will eventually come to an end. Don’t be surprised if a two loss team wins 5A. This is a deeper division than expected.
Featured image via Olympus High School