Templars trample Rabbits, 33-0
By Robert Stevens
Managing editor
8-28-2018
MANTI—Manti High’s offense and defense clicked so well in its game against Delta last Friday that it created the one-two punch that shut out the Rabbits, 33-0.
Manti beat Carbon the previous week, and the entire block around the high school seemed to buzz with excitement as the home game against Delta happened simultaneously with the Sanpete County Fair Demolition Derby.
But it was obvious; the Templar players had their minds on the game.
The last time Delta and Manti clashed, the Rabbits came out on top. And despite state rankings giving a slight edge to Delta, the Templars were ready for the challenge.
“Every year things change,” Manti Coach Cole Meacham said about the turn of tables. “Delta had a younger team this year, and our boys played a really good game.”
Manti employed a powerful passing game to rack up the points, quarter by quarter, while preventing Delta from scoring even a single field goal.
The game was led by QB Kyle King, who threw four successful touchdowns—three to teammate Travis Thompson and one to Adam Huff.
“We’re working hard to improve our passing game,” Meacham said. “We were a little run-heavy last year, and we still want to improve that too, but we want to be balanced.”
Manti got the ball rolling in the first quarter by working their way up the field with steady pressure until Jace Miller carried the ball over the goal line, and Thompson followed that up by running in a two-point conversion.
After Miller made his touchdown, the game shifted gears offensively for the Templars. While the defensive line continued to block every attempt to score by Delta, King began sending touchdown passes to the open arms of his ready teammates.
Like a steamroller moving towards the goal line, the Templars pushed onward as King and Thompson completed three consecutive touchdowns during the second and third quarters. Two of the three touchdowns had successful extra points from Seth Cornelson, but the one attempt at a two-point conversion fell flat.
To cap it off, Huff caught a 26-yard pass from King with seven minutes left in the third quarter, bringing their score to 33, where it held for the rest of the game, while the defensive line continued to stop Delta in its tracks. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.
Manti now holds a 2-0 record, and Delta sits at 0-2. Manti meets Grantsville, who also hold a 2-0 record, on the Templar home field tomorrow night.
“We’ve been watching some footage of Grantsville,” Meacham said. “The boys are training hard every day to step up their game even further.”
