Steve Pimper
MaxPreps.com
Park City coach Brandon Matich may have to keep a jug of Mylanta liquid with him on the sidelines throughout the 2006 season. That's because Matich's Park City Miners have now played back-to-back overtime games winning both in Hollywood fashion.
In week number one it was a 12-yard extra period run by Jared Tew that propelled the 3A Miners past 5A Hillcrest by a 33-27 score. But this week's 36-35 win over the Logan Grizzlies was even more dramatic.
That's because Logan came into the Miner Pit as defending Class 3A state champions and sporting Utah's current longest consecutive prep victory streak at 11 including a convincing, season-opening night win over 5A perennial power Hunter High. The Grizzlies have also held the No. 1 pigskin ranking in 3A since September of last season.
The Miners looked to be in complete control by building a 28-7 lead in the third period before seeing the Logan squad rally for three late game scores, the last coming with only 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter to knot the contest at 28 and force the extra period. Logan then applied the pressure by scoring first in overtime on a Josh Flores 11-yard run and converting the extra-point attempt.
Park City responded as Tew scored on a five-yard scamper (his NINTH rushing touchdown of the season) to bring the Miners within one point and could force a second overtime with a successful point-after kick. Instead, Matich elected to gamble and Andy Byers found Lucas Tucker with a two-point aerial that ended the Grizzly winning streak and also their claim to the top spot in the polls as well.
In other notable games around the Beehive State in week two, Brighton also played it's second-straight week of overtime. However, they came up short as a 38-yard field goal from Pete Caldwell of Davis High school gave the hometown Darts a 24-21 win.
The 4A game of the week was just as thrilling as the top-ranked Timpview Thunderbirds won for the 17th-straight time over Utah County neighbor Spanish Fork on a 20-yard Ryan McNamara field goal with 18 seconds left in the game. The final tally was 16-14 for the Thunderbirds.
In the northern corner of the state, coach Craig Anhder's Sky View Bobcat team continued it's turnaround under his leadership by crushing Bear River 33-6. Quarterback Jase Hill led the Bobcats by throwing for 267 yards and three touchdowns.
Yet another team surprising the pre-season experts is Magna's Cyprus Pirates. The Pirates dumped highly-favored Tooele in week one and followed up with a 35-21 win over visiting Kearns on Friday. Cyprus has found a new star in running back, Dontrae Williams, who moved from Nevada this summer to bolster coach Sonny Sudbury's offense.
Down St. George way the south may rise again as the Dixie High Flyers have disposed of Springville (35-8) in week one and also Nevada's Virgin Valley (30-6) last Friday as junior running back Nate Carter has amassed 430 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in the Flyer's two victories.
While the defending 5A champion Skyline Eagles and South Jordan's Bingham Miners continue to grab most of the big school media attention and ink from the press, the Beetdiggers of Sandy's Jordan High are lurking in the shadows. Jordan has posted lop-sided wins over Granger (56-13) and Layton (35-0) to open the season and travel across the nation in week three to challenge Valdosta, Ga., in a game that could surprise the Peach State fans.
Finally a note on Utah's only high school team to have NEVER lost a single football game. That would be the American Leadership Academy of Spanish Fork. The school is in its first year of existence and head coach Ron Olsen welcomed only five players with any real football experience to tryouts. Yet the new school has posted back-to-back wins over Carbon (19-17) and Altamont (25-18). That perfect record however may be a trivia answer by next weekend as ALA hosts their first-ever home contest against the undefeated, top-ranked and defending 2A state champion Grand County Red Devils.