Hawks suffer disappointing 17-13 homecoming loss
By James Tilson
Staff writer
Sept. 7, 2017
MT. PLEASANT — Playing in front of a spirit crowd for homecoming, the North Sanpete High School Hawks fought to the final horn but fell to the Cedar High School Redmen 17-13 last Friday, Aug. 1.
The Hawks were done in by big plays in the opposition’s run game, although in the second half the Hawks managed to stiffen up their defense and keep the game close throughout the contest.
The game started out with a bang for the Hawks as they scored on their first drive, compliments of a big passing play from quarterback Spencer Steadman to Keegan Eliason for 53 yards on the first play from scrimmage.
Steadman went on to toss a touchdown pass to Cole Mickel to put the first points on the board, 7-0.
Things seemed to be going all North Sanpete when the Hawks intercepted a Dallin Leavitt pass from the Redmen to set the Hawks up on the Redmen 30-yard line. However, a holding penalty stalled the Hawks offense, and they punted the ball.
The Hawks were given another golden chance when the Redmen fumbled the punt and the Hawks recovered on the Redmen 24. This time, Steadmen gave the ball back on an interception which ended the drive and gave the Redmen the ball on their own 30.
Having lived dangerously so far in the game, the Redmen took advantage of this possession to move the ball down the field thanks to excellent running by Trent Maurer, who ripped off runs of 30 and 39 yards on the drive and scored a touchdown to even the score, 7-7.
The rest of the first half became a defensive struggle, with neither team able to assert control over the game. The half ended with the Redmen attempting a 47 yard field goal that fell short.
In the second half, the Hawks struck first. The Hawks used a mix of running and passing, with Steadman running in the ball himself to put the Hawks in the lead. A missed point after touchdown made the score 13-7.
The Redmen took the next possession and moved the ball down the field behind their strong running game. Taking over at their own 35, they moved all the way to the Hawk 26 before their drive stalled, and they kicked a field goal to make the score 13-10, Hawks.
The Hawks and Redmen traded possessions before the Redmen received the ball at the end of the third quarter on their own 34. The Redmen drove the length of the field, and quarterback Leavitt threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Tayvien Brown to give the Redmen the lead, 17-13.
The Hawks, down less than a touchdown, struggled the rest of the fourth quarter to engineer a winning drive. Their passing game, which so far has been their bread and butter this season, failed them this time, yielding only two completions for 31 yards in 10 attempts and three interceptions after the Redmen’s last score.
However, the Hawk defense came through in the clutch for the young team, giving them a chance for a comeback until the very end of the game. Timely blitzes by linebackers Eddie Davis, Brock Justesen and Jaxton Langschwager crimped the Redmen’s running back and did not allow the Redmen to score the rest of the night.
On the last drive of the night, the Hawks put forth one more effort to win the game.
Starting at their own 19-yard line, with only 59.3 second left, the Hawks were able to drive to midfield with perhaps enough time to try to get into the end zone. But the drive ended on an interception with 9.6 second remaining.
This week, the Hawks travel to Salt Lake City to play Judge Memorial on Friday in their last non-conference game of the year.
