Coach of the Year

Coach of the Year: Kovi Christiansen credits 'great' group that led Morgan to state title

By PATRICK CARR Standard-Examiner Jan 4, 2020

MORGAN — Football’s obviously known for being a violent, contact sport.

One aspect of the raging national debate surrounding football is whether the amount of contact in practice should be reduced, ostensibly to decrease wear and tear along with the chance of injuries, or keep the amount of contact in practice the same so coaches can properly teach safe playing methods.

Each side has its merits, but maybe the reason why Morgan High’s football team was able to be so good in the playoffs was because the Trojans backed off a little bit.

“We backed off of contact a bunch and in the championship game, we didn’t have anybody out due to injury,” head coach Kovi Christiansen said. “Starting way back at the end of the regular season we had had basically one practice a week where we had some contact, limited, but we really backed off during the playoffs and I think that made them hungry to hit on Friday nights and Saturdays.”

Practice time got cut a little bit, they played a lot more music during practice — especially the week of the state title game — and did a lot of walkthroughs and one-on-one drills at practice in lieu of full contact.

Morgan outscored its four playoff opponents by a combined score of 93-21, beating Juab High 8-0 in the 3A state championship game at Dixie State for the school’s first state football championship since 1997.

Christiansen is the 2019 Standard-Examiner All-Area Football Coach of the Year.

The Trojans had returning starters in 15 positions coming into the season and the team was bolstered — and led — by a senior group of around 30-35 players at the start of the season.

Leadership was the strength of the team, Christiansen said.

“Having that many kids that were seniors and holding each other accountable in the weight room and in the offseason — they’ve been labeled the ‘chosen grade’ by people in our community — it makes some people pissed off, but also they really are a select grade. I mean, it’s about the only way I can put it is they are great kids,” Christiansen said.

The leadership, returning experience and talent combined with Morgan being a defending region champion earned a lot of preseason attention. But it was one thing to actually follow up on those expectations.

One thing helped in the end, though, and that was a 34-18 loss at Grantsville that gave the Cowboys the Region 13 championship and denied Morgan a fourth straight region title.

“None of us enjoyed losing that ballgame, especially how we did, and I think that was probably one of the best things that happened to us. It kind of made us refocus and reset goals to get the big trophy,” Christiansen said.

Over the next four games, Morgan allowed 21 total points, including zero in the title game against Juab.

The Trojans were known for their defense, which allowed 110 points in 12 games played for an average of 9.17 per game. A further dive into the numbers raise the eyebrows even more.

According to game box scores compiled by the Standard-Examiner, Morgan allowed an average of 157.7 yards per game, 1.45 yards per rush, held opposing quarterbacks to a 52.5 rating, held opponents to 17% on third-down conversion attempts, totaled 44 sacks and forced 26 turnovers, among a bevy of otherwise-impossible stats.

Key to the defense was a group that had started since its sophomore year, a three-person defensive line led by tackle Jamesen Burraston that occupied all five opposing O-linemen, a savvy group of linebackers that knew exactly what was coming, and a secondary that had things covered in case the offense got past the front seven.

“I honestly believed that if our defense had to go out there another seven or eight times (in the state championship game) they would’ve rose to the challenge. That’s just the kind of faith that we had in that group and the leadership that we had. Defense does win championships and it was never more evident than in that game,” Christiansen said.

The big senior class also let Morgan platoon players, which kept the team’s gas tank a little more full as the season approached the end.

It was a challenge to get the players to accept a role of playing on one side of the ball — it was maybe a harder job convincing the parents at first — but it helped down the stretch when the defense was able to rebuff Juab time after time late in the state title game.

“They were just willing to sacrifice whatever it took to get to the championship,” Christiansen said.

You can reach prep sports reporter Patrick Carr via email at pcarr@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter @patrickcarr_ and on Facebook at facebook.com/patrickcarr17/.