Penalties and turnovers contribute
to North Sanpete Hawks’ loss
to Juabs, 33-7, to end season
By James Tilson
Staff writer
Oct. 19, 2017
NEPHI—In the last regular season game of the year, the North Sanpete Hawks came up empty once again, losing to the Juab High Wasps 33-7.
As has been the case for much of the season, penalties and turnovers were the Hawks’ nemeses, as both were the cause for almost all of the first-half points scored by the Wasps.
On the Wasps’ first drive, they put themselves in a bad position due to a penalty. However, on the very next play, the Hawks were called for a personal foul of their own, which put the Wasps in scoring position.
On the next play, Wasp quarterback Easton Wright hooked up with Alex White for a 37-yard touchdown pass to make the score 7-0.
After going three-and-out to give Juab the ball back, the Hawks gave the Wasps another scoring opportunity. On a pass interference call, which North Sanpete questioned by insisting it was uncatchable, arguing by Hawk players led to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, for a total of 30 yards of penalty on one play.
The Wasps again took advantage of favorable field position to score and make it 14-0.
The Hawks appeared to have an opportunity to make turn around their luck when a Wasps’ pass was intercepted and returned to the Wasp 33-yard line. But on the ensuing drive, Max Gurney stripped the ball from Keegan Eliason, and ran the ball 80 yards to score the Wasps third touchdown of the night, for a score of 20-0.
After that, the Hawk offense was able to put together a drive and go into Wasp territory. But before they could score, the drive petered out and they turned the ball over on downs deep in Wasp territory.
But the Hawks seemed to take some momentum from that drive, and drove the Wasps deeper into their own end. When the Wasps punted the ball, however, the returner muffed the catch, and lost the ball back to the Wasps. With only seconds remaining in the half, the Wasps punched it in once more to make the score 27-0.
Both teams added one more score in the second half, but the Hawks never came close to challenging the Wasps, and the final score was 33-7.
This week, the Hawks begin the state playoffs by traveling to face the No. 3-ranked team in 3A North, the Union High Cougars. The game is Thursday at 4 p.m.
