Football

My first years of tackle football didn't go well. I played Little League in 7th and 8th grades and did not have much success or fun either year. In 7th Grade, my coach was Shane Watson and I believe John Hislop helped as well. There may have been others. The main thing I remember about that year was being terrified of the Tooele "A" Team. I'd scrimmage against the "B" Team all day long, but those "A" Team boys knew how to hit in a way I was not prepared for. I remember getting my first carry and getting creamed and I was done. Crying ensued. I was in 7th Grade and crying because the Tooele "A" Team hit too hard. I ended up disliking football so much that I missed the last game to go to a Scout campout. If you know me and my abhorrence of scouting and camping, you know this was an act of desperation.

I had no intention of playing in 8th grade, but John Ed Millward decided to coach the 8th grade team that year and actively recruited me. Finally, I relented and said I'd play. We were coached by John and several of his classmates (Cary Burr, Craig Ratcliffe, Kelly Clark, and Kirk Matthews are a few of the names I remember). We were not very good. Mrs. Burr (Cary's mother) was our English teacher and tried to motivate us one week for our upcoming game against Murray. She got up bright and early on a Saturday morning to come and watch us play. We got annihilated.

Another memory I have from that year was John Ed driving us all home after practices in his little pick-up (no idea where our parents were). I remember all of us sitting in the back and up on the sides and tailgate. On one occasion we got pulled over, but the cop just told us we needed to sit down in the bed rather than up on the sides or tailgate.

We lost every game but the last one. I don't remember what the score was exactly, but I believe I scored three touchdowns. It hadn't been a successful year, but at least we went out on a high note.

Despite the success of that final game, by the time the next season rolled around (our first year of high school football), I had decided that football wasn't for me. While most of my friends did play, my good friend George and I decided we were going to focus on basketball (this is getting ahead a little bit, but George and I would end up being two of the three from our class to be selected for 1st Team All-State for football our Senior year. The other was Ryan Keisel). My dad wanted me to play badly. Even after two-a-days were over, he took me over to talk to Paul Didericksen (who was part of the coaching staff at the time) about playing. I wavered a little, but ultimately declined.

Consequently, my one football-related memory from that year was betting the freshman team that they wouldn't beat Park City by four touchdowns and if they did, I'd let them cut my hair. Well, the team beat Park City by four touchdowns and came chasing after me as soon as the game ended. They held me down and got a few chunks cut out of my hair when I countered that I would buy everyone a shake, which they accepted. I later learned that John Hislop and another dad thought about upping the ante and offering to buy everyone two shakes to cut my hair, but in the end, they decided to let me off. We all walked down to Robin's from the high school and I bought everyone on the team a shake. As I recall, the Robin's workers weren't thrilled at having to make 20-30 shakes.

At some point over the next year, I decided I was back in on football. I went to 7-on-7 drills over the summer. I have one particular memory of defending my now brother-in-law Cam Jefferies (who is two years older than me and was headed into his Senior year) during 7-on-7 and him catching a pass but me being right there in position after the catch. Coach (Kevin) Butler said something like "You're lucky we're not in pads, Cam" to which Cam immediately retorted "When we're in pads, Mouritsen won't be here," which I can admit was a good comeback and one I deserved.

My Sophomore season ended up being a fun one. I started the year as the third-string tailback on the JV team, but ultimately found some success on the JV, and we only lost one game. Meanwhile, the varsity team would win GHS's first-ever State Championship that year, and I was able to take the field for a couple of plays in the State Championship game as part of the kickoff-return team. A very memorable year.

That year really boosted my confidence. While I didn't play a big role with the varsity team, I was part of the scout team and despite our "best in 2A" defense that year, I remember having some successful runs against our starting defense during practice. I decided I could be a football player.

When my Junior year came around I was ready. I intended to tell the story of that year in this post, but the lead-up ended up being longer than I thought it would be.

Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion...