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Show ,.' , " I . , . '.. '' ' '" , -."', - . ' - - J - " " : . . ,, - - f - " f - ; - 1 , .'. t. ; ' " - ;; '' -- . . -. ,. ;.--, . ,., s. - jy; - . .. . f. . .....v.-v... .. : ' :. J.- V 1 " ..' .- ..- . . ,. .. , . - 2 ' . .,' -, :.. . ..4 .'- - v- , 1 - . - - , . 1 j , " - - , ' ' f ' - " . ' - " "' - : . . - -.- . .- , . " ' - - .. '; " ;. .,:. - 4 . . . . -, - v. .. ... , -. i. . ,v, .:.v ss - v. s. . v . . . .. . 1 Mistakes Shatter Miner's Championship Dreams by David Fleisher ll was like a bad dream and when the alarm clock went iiff the Park City Miners could only wake up and accept the harsh realization that to capture the state championship, the first ever in Park High's football history, would have to wait. ..at least for another year. For loyal Park City fans, it was a bitter pill to lake because the defeat was completely unexpected; in fact, -even the possibility of defeat was considered remote. re-mote. A combination of disappointment and shock swept nvcr Park City's side of the Held. And the silence was deafening. Beaver's 24-21 win over Park City last Friday in the semifinal jame of the slate championship, played in Ncphi under threatening skies, was a classic match-up pitiiML! tradition against change: llie perennial powerful power-ful forces from Beaver versus a' markedly improved Park City team, a team that had gone undefeated during the regular season, an accomplishment accom-plishment not seen at Park High in at least a half a century, and a team which had easily shut-out North Summit in the quarterfinals a week earlier and ranked number one in the state. Who would have predicted that Beaver, who Park City beat 9-0 during pre-season, would defeat Park City in this crucial game? Of course it was possible, but no one seriously thought it would happen. That's why it was a heart-breaker for the players, play-ers, coaches and fans. Costly mistakes at critical times during the game made things difficult for both Beaver and Park City; it was simply that Beaver made fewer mistakes. And Beaver managed to capitalize on the Miners' mistakes which, in the end. accounted for the three-point winning margin. The game began on a familiar note. Park City took the opening kick-off. and t i i i V t 4 t t t i t t . t i 1 ( i t t with running backs Troy Packard and Steve Toly leading the way. the Miners marched down the field and scored in five minutes. On fourth down from the one yard line, Packard bolted over for the first TD of the afternoon; Darrin Lawless' kick was good and the Miners led, 7-0. . Beaver was unable to score during their first series of downs, however, their running runn-ing game looked impressive, led by Eric Dotson who advanced his team into Miner territory. But the drive ended on third-and-seven with a near interception intercept-ion by Park City's versatile linebacker Doug Vincent. The Beavers though gained gtod field position on their next possession, starting from Park City's 40 yard line. And it only took two downs to lie the game. On second-and-tcn. Quarterback Steve Hutchings shot around the left side into the end zone. Donnie Roberts extra point kick split the uprights, and with 2:53 left in the first quarter, the score was 7-7. Neither team was able to score for the remainder of the half, but the opportunities opportuni-ties were there. As the final seconds of the first quarter ticked off, Park City's John Ott recovered a Beaver fumble at about mid field, but Beaver's defense stiffened, stopping the Miners Min-ers cold; in fact, the Miners lost yardage forcing Tom Tebbs to punt on a fourth-and-long down. It seemed as if Park City would march down the field again starting from Beaver's 48 lyard line and with 9:02 left in the second quarter. Packard and Toly ran the ball past Beaver's 30 yard line; this series of downs looked similar to the Miners' first drive at the beginning of the game. With only one yard to go for a first down, a bad snap from Center and a mishandled ball by Quarterback Quarter-back Tom Flinders on the next two plays froze the drive in its tracks. Beaver gave up a golden opportunity to score with i i i t tit ,,,.".'.,,,,'.'.'.V..,.,.,.,. 2:17 left in the half when Park City fumbled on their own 23 yard line and the Beavers recovered the loose ball. Two plays later, Beaver commited the same error and the Miners got the ball back on their own 14 yard line and proceeded to run the clock out. Park City wasn't as lucky when they fumbled in the opening minutes of the third quarter; this time. Beaver capitalized on the mistake and scored the go-ahead touchdown. On first down . Park City gave up the ball on their own 30 yard line. Beaver's Dotson and Hutchings advanced ad-vanced down to the 18 yard line. Donnie Roberts, who Coach Al Marshall slid was the team's best all-around athlete, carried the ball . twice, two draw plays, first down to the 6, then into the end zone. With 8:23 left in the third quarter, Beaver led, 14-7. The Miners roared back. Piu turn ta ps 2B I t I i t i -IVIiriCrS Continued from Page ib - . . - ''Uv: .. ...... ,V;.'. - ... 3- .-. ... - ' - jf. '- ': W " -:, v ... & -- " .... .s.& " . $ ir-w- j. - - - " " i . ,r t... ., ....... -i v n -. . & ? " ' NSVV . " - ,v v I V . .. .-'... - ' s ,;i - ... ' . . ..... . !:'.'';.-. v;.- - - , j ; t .. ......... ... . ;: ,-ci- "'J " 1 - , I " - f : using a mixture of running and passing plays, to light i'p the scoreboard again and tie the score. On an important fourth down play, with two yards to go for the first, Packard ran to Beaver's 40 yard line. Roger Burns caught a Tom Flinders pass a i the 27 yard line; then on second down. Packard split up the middle down to the 1 1 . and on the next play, he pick-up two more yards. On second-and-goal. Flinders found Chris Sloan in the end one. And with 2:53 remaining remain-ing in the third quarter, the score was deadlocked at 14-14. Beaver took the lead in the opening seconds of the fourth period and it resulted from a Park City turnover and costly penalties. Starting from the Miner 41 yard line. Beaver managed to get down to the 10 yard line with the help of encroachment and personal foul penalties against Park City. Beaver's Sieve Huichings was unable to find open receivers on three downs, so Donnie Roberts was called on for the field goal; he drilled the ball through the uprights giving the Beavers a 17-14 lead with 1 1:47 left in the game. Bad field position cost the Miners another touchdown later the final period of play. On a third-and-long play. Park City Coach Bob Burns elected to try something that had been successful during prior games, a quick kick. But this one back-fired. Beaver blocked the punt and took liver on offense on Park City's eight yard line. On third down, Hutchings passed pass-ed to Scott Yardley who ran into the end zone: the PAT w as good. The Miners suddenly found themselves ten points behind, be-hind, -24-14 with only 5:09 left in the final quarter. The Miners, though, were in no way ready to quit. On first down from scrimmage, , an interference call negated a Beaver interception. On the next play. Roger Burns caught a Flinders pass that had been tipped by a Beaver defender. The completion took the ball all the way down to Beaver's 20 yard line. The final minutes were ticking off the clock: Park City w as running out of time. On fourth down, from the ten yard line. Tom Tebbs. who was surrounded bv Beaver players, caught a t-.verybody in the stands knew it was coming. And it pass in the end zone. Law less' extra point try was good. Beaver led. 24-21. with 2:57 remaining in the game. Beaver knew it w as coming. came. The onside kick. Park City's unsuccessful onside kick floated in (he air and Beaver's Chris Brannvall pounced on the ball on his own 34 yard line. Park City's only hope now as to get the ball back. Beaver's offense exploded on a succession of running ' plays by Hutchings, Roberts and Dot son. They advanced deep into Miner territory not allowing Park City another chance to score. A few days prior to last ( Friday's game. Coach Bob - Burns said. "The learn that makes the fewest mistakes will win." And he was painfully right. |