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WEST VALLEY CITY — The fireworks that followed Friday night’s rivalry matchup between the Granger Lancers and the Hunter Wolverines lit up the West Valley sky, much like the duel between the two explosive offenses on the field.
First year head coach of the Wolverines, Tarell Richards, earned his first home win of the 2018 season in front of a loud homecoming weekend crowd.
“It’s reassuring that the things we’re doing are the right things and we’ve been sticking to them and believing in them the whole time,” said Richards of the team’s win, “We believe in our system and our process. The kids have believed and fought through adversity. That’s what it was tonight.
With three first-half touchdown passes from Hunter’s junior quarterback DaiSean Cash and two rushing touchdowns from the Granger running backs, the game was setting up to be a shootout by halftime.
“We knew that their offense controls the ball — they take a lot of air out of the game,” said Richards.
“We knew we would have to be efficient,” he added, “We thought that in their zone defense there were going to be some holes and some opportunities to take shots down the field. They surprised us and went man, and tried to bring some pressure.”
Cash’s first touchdown pass came off a rollout play where he found fellow junior Wyatt Swanty in the corner of the end zone with 8:14 left in the first quarter.
Granger responded with a long touchdown drive that ate up most of the remaining quarter. Running back Ammon Tavai ran the ball up the middle for a few yards to tie the game at 7-7. A successfully executed onside kick immediately gave the Lancers the ball back, but they were unable to capitalize.
On the final play of the first half, the Wolverines had less than 6 seconds on the clock with the ball on the 3-yard line, coach Richards elected to skip on the field goal and go for the end zone. His gamble paid off as Cash connected with junior Karlo Almaraz for the pairs second touchdown connection, giving the Wolverines a seven point lead at half.
Fortune shifted for the Lancers as their opening drive or the second half was capped off by Sonasi Mosese Manu’s second rushing touchdown of the game. However, the team failed on a two point conversion attempt, bringing the score to 21-20.
A botched kick return by the Wolverines gave Granger the ball back again. Unlike their previous special teams recovery, this drive eventually led to another rushing touchdown, this time to Tavai for his second of the game. The Lancers now had their first lead of the game after converting on their second two point conversion, 28-21.
28-28 was the score entering the fourth quarter. A back and forth contest ensued for the first several minutes of the quarter until Hunter moved into Granger territory. Finally, on fourth down and one yard to go, junior running back Jordan Tupea put the Wolverines on top, 35-28 with 3:03 left to go in the final frame.
“I’m really happy with our guys sticking in there and listening to the adjustments. It took us a little bit to get going but once we made those adjustments we were good,” said Richards.
“This is a game where you got to throw the x’s and o’s out the window,” he explained. “I’m really proud of their character...It’s a game of pride and heart, and I think we just had a little bit more.
Hunter improves to 3-3, with an unblemished 2-0 record in region. Richards and his team will go on the road to Kearns to test the Cougars. The Lancers are also now 3-3, but are 1-1 in region. They will host American Fork next week. Marcos Aragon is the editor in chief of the Salt Lake Community College Globe. You can follow him on Twitter @maragon_xv
