Show MHTjTTMrj Wednesday October 13 2004 Sanpete Messenger r?ri3 vfj 0 etycijj I utiOXfOp VJtjiA&xj &t£i0oee i pocCetJj By Bob Bahlmann n in jepardy Gunnison with homecoming loss to Juab post-seaso- By Local football outlook All Gunnison Valley Edition Sean Hales Staff writer With two weeks left in regular season play the postseason picture is starting to solidify In 2A football the Gunnison Bulldogs with their region record are out of the running The finish which is the worst North Summit best they can do is a win over the Bulldogs can cjo By virtue of the Braves North Summit would then be the number four seed in the north region Manti What on the other hand has a guaranteed spot in the playoffs remains to be seen is what spot that will be The Templars along with Juan Diego and Juab all have a chance to take first place To win the region outright Manti will need to beat both the Soaring Eagle and the Wasps A loss to Juan Diego and a win over Juab would result in a tie for first place Juan Diego will also have to take care of business at North Summit in their final game of the season The Braves are the likely number four team but if Grand can beat North Summit and Gunnison they will steal that spot In the southern region Kanab Millard San Juan and Beaver have Clinched playoff seeds but the positioning is still up for grabs All four teams still have a shot at the number one spot Seeding is important because the first two finishers will play at home The number three and four teams from the north could be looking at road trips to Kanab or San Juan In 3A play North Sanpete would have to lose to Carbon and Delta over the next two weeks to be eliminated The Rabbits are currently in the number one spot with a region record Carbon is Should the Hawks beat Carbon on the road and then Delta in Mt Pleasant and should Lehi lose to Emery the Hawks would take first place wins would Stranger things have happened Two s give the Hawks great first round against either Dixie Hurricane or Snow Canyon A third or fourth place seed would result in much tougher opponents in Cedar or Pineview In college football the Snow College Badgers are currently in a tie for second place with Scottsdale and Dixie Pima with their win over the Rebels last week is firmly in the number one spot Snow has a tough schedule left to play with Dixie in Ephraim the next two and Scottsdale weeks a trip to New Mexico Military a home game against and then a season finale at Pima Glendale ) Dixie plays the bottom of the WSFL in their closing weeks facing four teams with a combined record of Pima and Snow will all square off over the next Scottsdale month in a dogfight for the league championship As a side note the Badgers will need to win two more games to earn a trip to the inaugural Zions Bank Top of the Mountains Bowl game in Salt Lake City on Dec 4 ift GUNNISON— With a homecoming loss against die Juab Wasps last Friday the Gunnison Bulldogs find themselves clinging to the bottom rungs of the 2A ranks and their playoff hopes In Friday’s match-uagainst Juab the Bulldogs got off to a good start as Taylor Ashton returned the game’s opening kick but a missed extra point left the Bulldogs at 6 But the game turned south Juab 38 Gunnison 21 quickly as Juab engineered a drive for a score Juab made the extra point to take a point lead Juab scored twice more in the halftime first half to lake a lead while Gunnison only reached the red zone once “We just didn’t play that well” said Gunnison assistant coach Trevor Powell But that didn’t mean the Bulldogs weren’t entertaining notable was a Particularly Gunnison punt when J D Pay (“Big 01’ 62”) was the first man to the ball The Juab player ducked and covered as Pay bore down on him and in the process fumbled the ball Gunnison was able to capitalize on Pay’s forced fumble when Ben Dailey broke a run for SEAN HALES a score Dailey scored once more on another play but it wasn’t enough as Juab made another three scores in the second half “It seemed like our thoughts were somewhere else” said assistant coach Greg Bartholomew citing the “Homecoming curse” as a possible cause for the poor execution But now the Bulldogs have to focus on winning their two remaining games if they hope to make it to the playoffs “If we would have won this one we would have been all right” said Bartholomew and “It's not in our hands continued anymore It’s up to late” Gunnison’s outlook wasn't always so bleak After the fifth week the Bulldogs had a record and were coming oil an spiring victory over Beaver But then came weeks six seven and eight when Gunnison had consecutive games against the thiee toughest teams in 2A football A win against South Summit this week would go a long way to getting from A 10) passes that set up a touchdown run by Kyle Hatch to give Manti the victory Manti had fumbled on their first play that gave the Wildcats possession at the templar Clegg Trevor punched it in South Summit took an early 23 and lead Manti got back on track and their next three possessions off a run by scored on Salanoa Hatch and an by Hugentobler reception by rumble The Templars got defensive help from Congdon Russell Peterson Chans Lund and Kyle Hatch to control the rest of the first half j i and take a lead In the second half the Wildcats took advantage of Manti penalties to earn a first and goal from the line Manti’s defense held three times but on fourth and inches quarterback Trevor Wagstaff took it in to narrow Manti’s lead to South Summit intercepted a Salanoa pass and started their offense on the Templar 34 The Wildcats moved the ball to the Manti four then Justin Jones ran it in for six Wagstaff kept the ball for and Manti trailed with just over three minutes left in the game On the sidelines coach Fred Taukei’aho gathered his linemen and asked them to step it up a notch “There’s lots of time” he NOTIN OUR BANK! erage of 2462 yards per reception Frischknecht caught one for 62 yards Hatch had one for a touchdown Newton caught three for 37 yards Rowley had two for 36 yards and Gunderson caught one for 24 yards Hawks were pressed into duty against the Utes ‘Uintah’s coach Dickson said that we Kevin were the most disciplined team they had said all Turner played year” The Haw k coach was also pleased with the play of Trent and Tyler Anderson on both sides of die ball Trent had an interception and recovered a fumble while Tyler hauled in a pass for a score on the last play of the third quarter to put the Hawks ahead by three touchdowns The Hawks will finish region A Prompt courteous friendly service awaits you at Gunnison Valley Bank You'll be in and out before you know it! play by visiting Carbon next week and then hosting first place Delta on Thursday October 21 after losCarbon is winless at to Ogden Delta is ing loss on overall with a but Friday to Cedar City sports a region record of North Sanpete can force a tie for first place with Delta and Lehi by sweeping its remaining two games Lehi has a and folio league record of a bye this week will play at Emery and hope that North Sanpete can knock off Delta in the hurdle to Gunnison’s playoff hopes with season ending games’ against Grand and Juan Diego Thomson got the stop on an eight yard sack and the rest is history Manti’s defensive secondary and pass rush held one of the best passing teams in the state to 72 yards on six of 17 pass attempts Manti had 195 yards rushing on 32 carries Salanoa ran eight times for 60 yards and a score Hatch carried nine times for 53 yards and a score Jace Moore had 39 yards on five runs Brandon Puett 20 yards on three runs and Hugentobler had an touchdown run Salanoa was eight of 20 passing for 197 yards for an av- (Continued fromAlO) Bulldogs Summit Gunnison ends the scasotv against seventh place Grand aird South Summit will face Kanab the 2A south region first place team North Summit could also be a said “We need a stop and then there’s lots of time” The Templars will have to follow coach Taukei’aho’s advice and step things up a notch as the 2004 football season goes into its final two weeks of regular play Manti will travel to Juan Diego this Friday to take on the Soaring Eagle and then finish the season with a road game at Juab These two teams are arguably the best in 2A and Manti will have to take their game with them if they want a home field advantage in the first round of the state playoffs the PHOTO gam& South Summit is in postseason fifth place— just one place above Gunnison — with a regiorf recoid and a Gunnison win would put the Bulldogs in a tie with South' Templars (Continued MESSENGER A group of Bulldogs bring down a Juab player during Gunnison’s homecoming loss threatens the possibility of a The Bulldog’s appearance 528-722- 1 |