SALT LAKE CITY – The Hurricane Tigers beat the Desert Hills Thunder 21-0 on Friday night to win the schools first 11-man football State Championship.
The Tigers, who have dealt with three straight years of heartbreak in the State Championship game, made sure there wouldn’t be any last-second heroics in this one.
Early on in the game it was an offensive nightmare; neither team could get things going with a combined total of three turnovers in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Tigers started to get things going after a big 21-yard run by running back Brian Scott. Scott got the Tigers inside the 10-yardline. On the next play, Scott took it up the middle again; this time it was 7-yards for the touchdown. The extra point was blocked.
It was the only score in the entire first half.
“I think the cold weather kind of got us off to a slow start, but I knew they would get rolling,” Tiger coach Chris Homer said.
The Tigers added a field goal in the third quarter to take a 9-0 lead going into the fourth. The field goal was into the wind from 49-yards out by Eathan Stratton.
The Thunder never got their offense going, only gaining 123 yards of total offense. Thunder running back Mike Needham was held to 37 rushing yards and quarterback Porter Harris ran for just 14 yards on 11 carries.
The Thunder defense played a great game but many times had their backs against the wall with the Tigers starting with great field position because of the Thunder turnovers.
Brian Scott got the Tigers in the end zone twice in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for the Tigers. Scott finished the game with 105 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Scott also had five tackles.
Thunder linebacker Peter Brown had 11 tackles; Kevin Webb led the team with 13 tackles. Harris also played defensive back had an interception to go along with three tackles.
The Tigers got it done on the ground like they have all year. The Tigers finished the game with 283 yards rushing.
Weston Yardley had 57 rushing yards on the night to go along with 53 receiving yards.
Both teams had plenty of students, family and friends that made the trip. Athletic Director Kim Monkers of Desert Hills High School said Desert Hills brought four buses full of students.
Our Blake’s Take MVP is Brian Scott who finished the season with 31 touchdowns.
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