Undefeated Logan Grizzlies blow past Hurricane, 45-14

Image by Brett Barrett, St. George News

HURRICANE — Logan may have felt it was on vacation Wednesday night as the Grizzlies stepped off the Cache Valley School District bus to a balmy 65 degrees in Hurricane.

Logan then cruised to an easy 45-14 win over the Tigers while fans back home suffered through a 25-degree night. The win puts the 9-0 Grizzlies, ranked No. 1 in 4A, one step closer to a perfect season.

For Hurricane, the frustration continues for a team that has made the playoffs in each of the past eight years, including the 2011 state championship and trips to the finals in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In ’05, the Grizzlies handed the Tigers their only loss in the state semifinals.

hurricane-smloganAs on that November day eight years ago, Wednesday night was no contest. Logan scored three touchdowns in the game’s first six minutes to quash any doubt as to who would come out on top. Chase Nelson, the younger brother of Riley Nelson (who led that ’05 Logan team and went on to star at BYU), was spectacular, passing for 316 yards and rushing for 58 more. He was instrumental in five of the six Logan TDs — the sixth came on a pick-six by Kyler Freeman.

Logan’s first three sores came quick, with Nelson scoring from a yard out 2:15 into the contest, then Freeman returning an Adlai Elison interception 50 yards for a score with only 3:54 gone off the clock. After a Hurricane punt, Nelson found Taylor Compton 40-yards downfield for another score. The first quarter clock read 6:03 and it was already 21-0.

To the Tigers’ credit, Hurricane fought to stay in it. After an exchange of punts, Hurricane marched 67 yards to cut the Logan lead to 21-7. Jeremiah Ieremia ran it in from 14 yards out in a drive that saw two Logan personal fouls called.

The Tigers then forced a Logan punt, getting the ball back with 10:03 to go in the half and down just 21-7. Hurricane drove down to the LHS 31-yard line, but Ieremia was stopped a yard short on fourth and two, giving the Grizzlies the ball back. Three plays later Nelson hit Chad Artist from four yards out to make it 28-7. The Grizzlies added another TD just before halftime on a Nelson-to-Tanner McIntire pass of 15 yards to hold a 34-7 lead at the break.

Nelson’s fourth TD pass of the night came just two minutes into the second half as junior Chandler Lowery scored from 26 yards out. A two-point conversion made it 42-7 and the rout was on.

Tyson Yardley had a 24-yard TD run late in the game for Hurricane’s second TD.

The Tigers fall to 1-8 overall with the non-region loss. Hurricane, 1-4 in region, plays at Desert Hills next Friday to close out the regular season. Despite their record, Hurricane will be in the playoffs by virtue of its win over Payson. If the Lions beat Cedar next week, a three-way tie could be possible for the last two playoff spots and may bring about a play-in game.

The Grizzlies can claim the Region 5 title with a win over Box Elder next week.

Stats: LHS 45, HHS 14

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.

Image by Brett Barrett, St. George News
Image by Brett Barrett, St. George News

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