Video: Matthew Roberts' highlights vs. South Summit
OGDEN, Utah – Facing a two-time defending state champion with a 21-game winning streak would intimidate many teams.
Beaver didn't fall into that category.
The Beavers came out armed with a strong offensive and defensive game plan against
South Summit (Kamas). Beaver dominated on both sides of the ball and rolled to a 33-0 victory over the Wildcats in the UHSAA Class 2A championship game Saturday at Weber State. It marked the first state title for the Beavers since 1990.
Beaver (11-1) accumulated 419 yards of total offense while holding South Summit (11-1) to just 181 total yards. The Beavers also forced the Wildcats to commit five turnovers – including four in the second half.
"Honestly, our coaches gave us a great defensive plan," senior quarterback
Matthew Roberts said. "We watched a lot of film and we studied them hard. They gave us a great defensive plan and the defense came out and we did that defensive plan. We shut them down."
Roberts and the offense did their part as well. The senior threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns on 9-for-12 passing. His biggest target,
Brennon Hutchings, had 121 yards and three scores on just four catches.
Hutchings made life miserable for South Summit's defense from the beginning. The senior receiver did most of his damage before halftime to swing momentum toward the Beavers.
Beaver took a 7-0 lead with 1:10 left in the first quarter on Hutchings' first touchdown grab – a 36-yard strike from Roberts one play after the Beavers forced South Summit to punt. Roberts found Hutchings open in the flat on the team's next drive in the second quarter and he streaked untouched for a 33-yard score. It gave Beaver a 13-0 lead with 6:00 left in the half.
"We got up on them and we just had them on their heels," Beaver coach Steve Hutchings said. "We play another day, it might be another outcome. I don't know. We just had everything going. Everything we ran worked and just seemed to go our way."
A pair of defensive stops helped the Wildcats hang around for a while before halftime.
South Summit stopped Beaver on its opening drive when
Isaac Tillett stripped the ball from
Colton Leos at the Wildcat 6-yard line and the Wildcats recovered the fumble. Then, just before halftime, the Wildcats held on fourth and goal from their own 3 after Hutchings intercepted
Nick Beasley to set up the Beavers at the South Summit 21.
Still, South Summit could not make up any ground. The Wildcats moved down to the red zone twice and turned it over on fourth down both times.
Beaver extended its lead with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns. The Beavers scored on a 1-yard run from
Dillon Smith and then Roberts connected with Hutchings again on a 2-yard score, giving the Beavers a 26-0 lead with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter.
Beaver capped the scoring with a 1-yard keeper from Roberts that made it 33-0 with 7:47 left.
Juan Diego Catholic (Draper) 28, Morgan 13
Ryan Baker, Juan Diego Catholic
Photo by Steve Carnahan
A punishing ground attack has always been a trademark of successful Juan Diego teams. Being able to dominate in the backfield worked to the Soaring Eagle's advantage once again.
Juan Diego piled up 306 total rushing yards to fuel its victory over Morgan in the UHSAA Class 3A championship game Saturday at Weber State. The Soaring Eagle averaged 6.0 yards per carry.
Kaden Hayward led the way with 172 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, and
Ryan Baker added 114 yards on 22 carries.
Morgan, on the other hand, totaled 185 yards rushing.
Austin Francis rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries. But it wasn't enough to keep the Trojans in the game.
"Our game strategy was to throw as many bodies in there as possible because they bring the entire town of Morgan into one spot," Juan Diego coach John Colosimo said.
The Soaring Eagle (12-1) claimed their first state title since winning three consecutive Class 3A titles from 2008 to 2010.
Juan Diego seized control of momentum when
Josh Vasquez blocked a Morgan field goal attempt late in the first quarter.
Danny Wilson scooped up the loose ball and returned it 69 yards, giving the Soaring Eagle a 6-0 lead.
It helped Juan Diego bounce back from a turnover that gave Morgan great field position.
Ian Mortensen stripped the ball from Hayward and the Trojans recovered at the Soaring Eagle 37 to set up the would-be scoring drive.
Hayward extended the Soaring Eagle lead to 14-0 on a 7-yard run early in the second quarter. The Soaring Eagle had a chance to go up three scores later in the quarter, but
Dillon Savage hooked a 31-yard field goal attempt wide right.
Morgan (10-3) gained new life on the missed field goal. The Trojans marched 80 yards and scored on a 2-yard run from Francis with 31.6 seconds left in the second quarter, cutting Juan Diego's lead to 14-7 going into halftime.
"We really needed to clean up the turnovers," Juan Diego quarterback
Alexander Hoffman said. "That was the big thing. We knew we could keep running what we wanted to run. We just had to want it more than we wanted it in the first half."
The Soaring Eagle didn't let Morgan get any closer.
Juan Diego pushed its lead to 21-7 when Hoffman rumbled in from 8 yards out on a quarterback keeper on the first play of the fourth quarter. Morgan answered when Francis cut to the edge and raced 34 yards for a score to make it 21-13 with 9:15 left. The Soaring Eagle sealed the win when Hoffman scored again, on a 3-yard run with 4:15 left, to make it 28-13.
Diamond Ranch Academy (Hurricane) 23, Kanab 20CEDAR CITY – It took surviving a fourth-quarter rally, but Diamond Ranch claimed its first Class 1A title. The Diamondbacks escaped with a 23-20 victory over Kanab at Southern Utah on Saturday.
Diamond Ranch (11-0) has won 11 straight games since falling to Rich in the 1A title game a year ago. The Cowboys (9-4) were denied their first state title since 2007.
Kanab took a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter on a 3-yard run from
Layne Anderson. The Cowboys quickly fell behind while struggling to move the ball against a tough Diamond Ranch defense.
The Diamondbacks ran off 16 unanswered points.
Aaron Kern broke free for a 7-yard run to give Diamond Ranch a 10-6 lead early in the second quarter. Then
Jack Dowdell returned an interception 10 yards to give the Diamondbacks a 16-6 lead with 8:21 left in third quarter.
Kanab rallied late to give Diamond Ranch a scare.
Brandon Southwick hauled in a 5-yard catch to cut it to a one-possession game at the end of the third quarter, and Anderson punched in a 2-yard run to put the Cowboys up 20-16 with 3:53 remaining.
Kern came through with a huge play on Diamond Ranch's next drive. He raced 64 yards down to the 1-yard line. It set up a scoring run from
Thomas McCann on the next play and gave the Diamondbacks a 23-20 lead with 3:37 left.
John Coon covers Utah high school sports for MaxPreps. You can contact him at john_coon@hotmail.com and follow him on Twitter at @johncoonsports
