The Newspaper Article....

Unbeaten Cottonwood sent a message to the other three semifinalists in the Class 4A football playoffs Friday. The Colts play defense, too. Quarterback Steve Romero completed 20 of 36 passes for 288 yards and four touchdowns, but Cottonwood's under-publicized defense dominated Bonneville during the Colts' 44-7 quarterfinal victory. The Lakers managed only 148 yards of total offense, including 36 on the meaningless final drive of the game. Bonneville's only touchdown came after Cottonwood had built a 28-0 lead, and it capped a drive that was aided by two personal foul calls on the Colts. The Cottonwood defense also scored the break-it-open touchdown. Early in the second quarter, end James Washington read a Bonneville flea-flicker, stepped in front of a lateral pass back to Laker quarterback Todd Aubrey and rumbled 28 yards for a score that made it 21-0. Washington's memory of his touchdown? "I thought I was going to get tackled," he said. Said Thomas: "That was a great play. Our defensive line is very young; he's only a sophomore. So that was a good bonus right there because it was huge - a score by the defense." Referring to Cottonwood's 31-24 win over Orem in the first round, Thomas said, "Our defense really picked it up from last week. They did
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everything we asked them to do. . . . We're really happy with them." Offensively, Romero was nearly unstoppable. So was Isi Sofele, who rushed 27 times for 134 yards and a touchdown. He gained 90 yards on 14 carries in the first half. "When [Romero] makes smart decisions with the football, he's dangerous," Thomas said. "And today he was right on. . . . With him and [Sofele] back there, it's a two-headed monster." luhm@sltrib.com