Delta ends Summit Academy's 2A run 21-14 and reaches its first championship game since 2016

Delta, the No. 2 seed in 2A, beat No. 3 Summit Academy 21-14 on Friday, Nov. 6 in a state semifinal at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, the Deseret News reported 12. The Utah High School Activities Association scheduled both 2A semifinals at that stadium that day 3.

The result sends Delta to its first championship game since 2016, and gives it a chance to end what the Deseret News account called a 25-year championship drought 1. Summit Academy's season ends at 8-4 under head coach Ben Young, according to the Deseret News high school sports service's page for the school 4.

Delta scored on its opening drive, and on the first play of its second drive Bodey Shurtz found Jacen Johnson for a 68-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead 1. Summit Academy forced a fumble on defense, then lost the ball on a Delta takeaway at the 1-yard line 1. Tannon Horner put the Bears on the board in the second quarter, and Shurtz ran for a score just before halftime to make it 21-7 1.

Delta did not score again. Summit Academy moved the ball into Delta territory on its first two drives of the second half and came away with nothing: both ended in interceptions in the end zone 1. Rigby Young then found Brayden Dieters for a 33-yard touchdown with just under six minutes left to cut the lead to 21-14, and the Bears' defense got a stop to give the offense a chance 1. Johnson's third interception of the second half ended it 1.

"Our defense was solid all night," Delta head coach Denton Peterson said, according to the Deseret News. "Our (defensive backs) played tough, stepped up in big moments" 1. Peterson said the plan was to start fast against a physical opponent: "We really had the plan that we needed to start fast and try to get a little bit of a cushion, and it worked out" 1.

The teams had also met on Sept. 11, when Delta won 24-14, according to the service's records 4. Summit Academy is a charter school in Bluffdale 5.

Delta plays No. 1 San Juan for the 2A championship on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. Mountain time at Eccles Coliseum at Southern Utah University, according to KSL's roundup and the association's calendar 23. San Juan beat No. 4 South Summit 57-50 in the other semifinal, which KSL also placed at Zions Bank Stadium 2.