Penalties keep Hawks from winning against Juab rivals
Matt Harris
Staff writer
10-13-2016
MT. PLEASANT—The North Sanpete Hawks had their hopes extinguished slightly when rival Juab came to town last Friday and stuffed their offense in a 26-6 loss.
Penalties were the huge difference for the Hawks, as almost every play by the Hawks over 15 yards was called back for a penalty. The resulting punts oftentimes resulted in great field position for the Wasps, who made the best of it with big plays.
“Our whole offense is running the ball, and that’s tough with penalties,” head coach Rhett Bird Says. “When we don’t have a really good passing game, so when we’re back 20 yards, they know what’s going to happen.”
Juab was first on the board with a long pass to receiver Blake Mangelson, but the Hawks answered on the next drive with a one-yard rush by Haden Poulsen. After that, the Hawks couldn’t get anywhere, being called for penalty after penalty on every drive, which at one point had them in a third-and-33 situation, while the Wasps came up with more big plays. Every Juab touchdown was a play longer than 25 yards.
Continuing in absence of the injured Spencer Steadman, Hawk sophomore quarterback Chance Clawson continued to struggle, completing only a few passes. Steadman is cleared to play next week against Canyon View.
“Anytime you can get an underclassman to get time in a varsity game, it’s only going to help him,” Bird says. “Chance is a great kid, he’s young, and you can see that on the field, but it’s great for him to have that experience and feel that pressure.”
The Hawks have two games left to play. They will travel to face Canyon View next Friday at 7 p.m. and will return home for last game against Morgan next week.
