WOODS CROSS — Bountiful High football coach Larry Wall had a simple message for his team at halftime Friday night.

The Braves trailed for the first time this year. Cross-town rival Woods Cross had come over and taken a 6-0 lead into the break, and the Braves were reeling.

“Coach came in and just told us to settle down,” said Bountiful quarterback Ty Talbot. “He calmed us down and told us to to go out and play Bountiful football, and that if we did that things would be fine.”

The Braves went out, and it took until the final play but came away with a thrilling 14-12 win over the Wildcats before thousands of frenzied fans.

“This is something I’ve dreamed about since I was 8 years old,” Talbot said. “It’s great.”

The dream almost became a nightmare as Woods Cross came out and smacked the No. 1 Bountiful team in the teeth.

After the Braves failed on their first possession, the punt was caught in the wild wind, giving the ’Cats great field possession.

CJ Corry put Woods Cross ahead 6-0 with a three-yard run, a lead that would hold up for the entire first half.

Corry was a beast finishing with 103 yards on 24 carries.

In the second half, the Braves came out and grabbed the lead back after a drive that included the three-headed monster backfield of Mitch Johnson, Ben Lemon and Tyler Farr — which led to a Lemon 1-yard plunge. Spencer Mohlman made good on his PAT, and Bountiful led 7-6 midway through the third quarter.

Woods Cross shot itself in the foot with penalties that hurt them when they had good field possession.

Bountiful’s Dillon Salazar made life miserable for Woods Cross, coming up with two big interceptions that also sent the ’Cats away.

Bountiful looked as if it had finally caged up the Wildcats when Lemon scored on a 57-yard charge with less than a minute to play.

Woods Cross battled back, and when Tyler Parson connected with Darchon Taggart with five seconds to play, the ’Cats were in possession to force overtime.

Parson lighted up the air for Woods Cross with 137 yards passing, connecting on 11 of 25 attempts.

Bountiful’s Greg Skedros, however, picked off the two-point conversion to seal the win.

“Our front guys did a great job of getting pressure on their quarterback,” Skedros said. “I just did my read and saw where they were going, and I made a break on the ball.”

“Definitely the biggest interception of my life.”

Woods Cross coach Freddie Fernandes took the full responsibility of the loss and placed it firmly on his shoulders.

“Our guys played hard enough to win,” Fernandes said. “This loss is completely on me. I made some bad decisions, and it cost us the game. I’m so proud of the way our guys played. No quit. They came back when most teams would have quit on that late drive.”

Wall received from Woods Cross exactly what he expected.

“Woods Cross didn’t sneak up on us at all,” Wall said. “They are a very good team, and we all knew they were going to come out here and battle us. The score doesn’t surprise me at all.”

sschulte@davisclipper.com