Hawks fall in close game against Falcons, 30-27
Matt Harris
Staff writer
10-20-2016
CEDAR CITY— The North Sanpete Hawks fell short of evening their record against the Canyon View Falcons last Thursday in a 30-27 defeat.
“It was a tough loss, but our boys fought till the very end,” head coach Rhett Bird said. “I’m proud of the way they finished and left everything out on the field.”
North Sanpete High School (NSHS) was first on the scoreboard when sophomore running back Shawn Taylor punched in a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
But the better portion of the first half belonged to the Falcons, who scored three straight touchdowns, with junior quarterback Stockton Rigby tossing one to senior receiver Abe Huxford and running in another. Senior back Kyler Bergener first put the Falcons on the board with a 66-yard touchdown run.
It wasn’t until near the end of the second quarter when Taylor answered back, hauling in a 44-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Spencer Steadman. Steadman, the starting quarterback, returned to action for the Hawks for the first time since the third week of the season when he suffered a broken collarbone against Maple Mountain. His touchdown pass brought the Hawks back to life in the matchup as they went to the locker room at halftime down a seemingly manageable 22-13.
Having given up some big plays in the first half, the Hawks came out in the second half ready to play. Canyon View’s final points of the game came at the beginning of the third quarter on another connection from Rigby to Huxford from 35 yards. From there, North Sanpete took over and started to amass a comeback.
Senior running back Waylon Atkinson, as he had done before this season, put the Hawks on his back in the second half. Steadman connected with Atkinson on a 25-yard touchdown to bring to score to 30-20. Atkinson then took a handoff all the way for another score from 42 yards.
Unfortunately, it was as close as the Hawks could get, as the Falcons held on for the victory.
Steadman finished his comeback game with 10 of 21; passing for 131 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Atkinson led all rushers with 82 yards on 13 carries.
Bird expressed gratitude to have his starting quarterback back on the field.
“Spencer played an awesome game, and I expected nothing less out of him,” Bird said. “He is a smart kid and competes every time he steps on the field. It’s too bad we didn’t have him earlier, but some of our young players were able to fill in when he was gone and gain the experience.”
The Hawks played one final game before playoff seeding when they hosted Morgan yesterday. The score was unavailable at the time of print.
