NORTH LOGAN -- Not wanting to be left out, the Wolves did what they needed to finish in a tie for second in the Region 11 football standings.
Green Canyon scored first and never trailed Wednesday night against Sky View on the eve of Fall Break. The Wolves could not shake the Bobcats as it went down to the final minutes of the contest in the regular season finale. A field goal ended up being the difference as Green Canyon prevailed, 31-28.
"I'm super proud because we want to be able to be a tough, physical, gritty group," GC head coach JT Tauiliili said. "It's one thing to say that, but now we actually put action into those words."
The Wolves (7-2, 4-2 region) used a balanced attack offensively and got two timely turnovers from the defense. The Bobcats (6-4, 4-2) headed north knowing just how costly a few mistakes were.
"We just couldn't make enough plays and didn't get enough stops on defense," SV head coach Eric Alder said. "I'm sure they (Wolves) dominate the time of possession. We just need to make a few more plays. In a close contest like this, ball security is going to be a big deal. Our first play of the game was a turnover and gave them a short field. But we battled and tied it up. We just ran out plays."
Sky View, Green Canyon and idle Mountain Crest all finished in a tie for second in the region. Teams will find out Saturday their state playoff future when the final RPI is released and the brackets for the 4A playoffs.
"We are banged up, so it will be nice to have some time to heal up," Tauiliili said. "We have developed depth, so that will be good going forward."
"It' going to be a long couple of days, but we will find out Saturday morning what our playoff situation looks like and we'll make the most of that challenge," Alder said. "That's all we can do."
Green Canyon will go into the playoffs having won two in a row. Sky View suffered both its region setbacks over the past three weeks.
The Wolves finished with 394 yards of total offense Wednesday with 220 of those coming on the ground. The offensive line, made up of Ty Jensen, William Poulsen, Grayden Herzog, Peyton Youssef and Luke Baker drew praise from the coach and players.
"The O-line gave Payton time to throw me the ball," said Wolf wide receiver Hayden Schramm, who caught nine passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns. "Shout out to the O-line. They forced their will down the field. They did it all for us, and shout out to Payton (Wilson)."
"The offensive line did a great job, making it so we were able to run the ball," Tauiliili said. "Even pass protection, the O-line was lights out tonight. I'm really proud of that group gelling and basically carrying us."
Green Canyon quarterback Payton Wilson led the rushing charge with 150 yards on 17 carries, while sophomore Micah Jenkins filled in for an injured teammate, rushing for 65 yards on 22 carries.
"We worked hard all week in practice at being physical," Jensen said. "We just stuck to our assignments and blocked hard. We just drove it all day on them. ... Sometimes it is hard, because you don't know where he (Wilson) is at."
"I'm really proud of the backs, especially the young Micah Jenkins," Tauiliili said. "It's a lot on a sophomore body to take this kind of abuse in under seven days. For him to come out and do it again (after last Friday), I'm really proud of him."
The Wolves were able to make several long, time-consuming drives. The prime example was on what turned out to be the game-winning march. It began in the third quarter and nine-and-a-half minutes later Tanner Holt was booting a 19-yard field goal that ended up being the difference. The Wolves ran 15 plays and gained 62 yards.
"That was a beautiful drive," Jensen said. "We just played hard the entire time. The O-line never gave up. We were well conditioned."
The field goal with 5:39 to play gave the hosts their largest lead of the game, 31-21.
"We wanted to make sure we possessed the ball and play keep away for a little bit," Tauiliili said. "We definitely would have liked to punch it in at the end, but we got out of here with a win."
Wilson completed 19 of 26 pass attempts for 174 yards and three TDs. Schramm led the receiving corps with his nine catches, while Colby Knight hauled in five passes for 58 yards.
Sky View finished with 335 yards of total offense. Quarterback Jack Clark completed 14 of 25 passes for 227 yards and two TDs, but did have an interception at the end of the game. Liam Guthrie caught three passes for 81 yards and two scores before getting hurt. Clark also scored from a foot out on two occasions. Running back Xander Stokes gained 97 yards on the ground on 20 carries.
"We still scored after Liam Guthrie went down but it's really hard without your go-to guy in a two-minute situation," Alder said. "We just need to make more plays."
After having to punt on their first possession, the Wolves got the ball right back and with a short field when Baxter Martin recovered a fumble on Sky View's first offensive play on a reception. Green Canyon drove 35 yards in seven plays, capped by a Wilson to Shandon Thain pass from five yards out midway through the opening quarter.
Like they did most of the night, the Bobcats responded. They drove 65 yards in 13 plays, scoring on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1-yard line to tie the game up at 7-7. Clark got in after the Wolves had stopped two previous attempts from a yard out.
Green Canyon drove down to the 7-yard line on the ensuing possession, but turned the ball over on downs when Wilson was sacked by Jace Lillywhite. Sky View couldn't capitalize on the momentum swing and had to punt.
The Wolves marched 66 yards in eight plays to go up 14-7 with 3:58 left in the first half. Schramm went up and caught a well thrown ball over a Bobcat defensive back for a 3-yard TD. It was the start of a flurry of points.
Less than a minute later the visitors responded with two long passes. After a 35-yard throw to Lincoln Ballard, Clark found Guthrie for a 40-yard score to knot the game up at 14-14.
There was plenty of time left for the Wolves to respond. They went 70 yards in 10 plays, Martin gave the hosts a 21-14 lead at the break with a 2-yard TD jaunt with 18 ticks left in the second quarter.
The Bobcats needed just over three minutes of the third quarter to equal the Wolves. A great pass and catch from Clark to Guthrie for a 36-yard TD capped a 84-yard drive that took eight plays. It was 21-21.
After a 30-yard kickoff return by Bryson Pabst, the Wolves marched 62 yards in 10 plays. Play action by Wilson created enough of an opening for him to find Schramm over the middle for a 7-yard TD pass and a 28-21 lead with 4:35 left in the third quarter.
"Me and Payton have a good connection," said Schramm, who has now caught eight touchdown passes over the last four games. "Payton threw a great ball. He throws a perfect ball."
Sky View could not answer this time and punted, which turned into the very time-consuming drive that resulted in a field goal for the Wolves.
"It was massive to come out score each time and force our will," Schramm said. "... This is so big to us. It felt good to win and shut them (Bobcats) up."
The Bobcats did answer this time, but it took them 13 plays to go 66 yards. They converted three third-down plays, including a 41-yard pass from Clark to Zach are Oxborrow on third-and-10. Once again Clark had to dive in from less than a yard out on fourth-and-goal. There was 2:16 left in the game, and the visitors trailed by three points.
Sky View used up all of its timeouts, but did force a punt and got the ball back with 1:44 to play on its own 16. A deep throw, however, was picked off by Pabst. All the Wolves had to do was take a knee three times and the game was over.
"I'm really proud of the defense," Tauiliili said. "Mistakes happen, but you need to figure out how you can overcome them and adversity. Then they step up and seal the game for us. I love it was a full team effort."
RIVERHAWKS STILL PERFECT
For the second time in program history the Riverhawks made it through a regular season unscathed.
Ridgeline had no trouble with visiting West Field Wednesday night in Millville. The hosts built a 38-0 lead by halftime and coasted to a 45-7 victory over the Longhorns.
"Great game tonight on both sides of the ball," Ridgeline head coach Travis Cox said.
Five touchdowns came on the ground for the Riverhawks (10-0, 6-0). The Longhorns (1-9, 1-5) avoided the shut out with a late TD.
"Our kids are extremely focused and confident right now, and we cannot wait for the playoffs," Cox said. "It will be good to take a little time and heal up for the stretch run."
Riverhawk running back JT White got the scoring started with a 10-yard TD just 36 seconds into the contest. Quarterback Nate Dahle found Hunter Knighton for a 25-yard scoring pass and catch to give the hosts a 14-0 lead after the first quarter.
Ridgeline then blitzed West Field with 24 points in the second quarter. It started with Aaron Young booting a 43-yard field goal.
"It was great to see Aaron Young kick that 43-yard field goal," Cox said. "He's worked so hard, and that was an impressive kick."
Dahle used his feet to score from 23 yards out to make it 24-0 at the 7:49 mark of the second quarter. Scoring runs of nine yards by Jackson Lindsay and five from White gave the hosts the big lead at the break.
Neither team scored in the third quarter.
With 5:34 to play, Kaden Wiser gave the Riverhawks a 45-0 lead on an 8-yard TD run.
The Longhorns scored with 2:08 to play with a 23-yard TD pass.
-- -- --
WOLVES 31, BOBCATS 28
Wednesday at North Logan
Sky View 7 7 7 7 -- 28
Green Canyon 7 14 7 3 -- 31
First Quarter
GC -- Shandon Thain 3 pass from Payton Wilson (Tanner Holt kick), 6:08
SV -- Jack Clark 1 run (Branoc Jamison kick), 1:44
Second Quarter
GC -- Hayden Schramm 3 pass from Wilson (Holt kick), 3:58
SV -- Liam Guthrie 40 pass from Clark (Jamison kick), 3:00
GC -- Baxter Martin 2 run (Holt kick), :18
Third Quarter
SV -- Guthrie 36 pass from Clark (Jamison kick), 8:51
GC -- Schramm 7 pass from Wilson (Holt kick), 4:35
Fourth Quarter
GC -- Holt 19 FG, 5:39
SV -- Clark 1 run (Jamison kick), 2:16
RIVERHAWKS 45, LONGHORNS 7
Wednesday at Millville
West Field 0 0 0 7 -- 7
Ridgeline 14 24 0 7 -- 45
First Quarter
R -- JT White 10 run (Aaron Young kick), 11:24.
R -- Hunter Knighton 25 pass from Nate Dahle (Young kick), 5:17.
Second Quarter
R -- Young 43 FG, 9:29.
R -- Dahle 23 run (Young kick), 7:49.
R -- Jackson Lindsay 9 run (Young kick), 5:32.
R -- White 5 pass from Dahle (Young kick), :47.
Fourth Quarter
R -- Kaden Wiser 8 run (Young kick), 5:34.
WF -- Boston Kap 23 pass from Tye Abbott (Jaden Fowers kick), 2:08.