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- Park City emerged victorious over Springville with a 17-14 win in overtime, improving their season record to 9-1.
- The game, played on a windy night in Utah County, was a non-region matchup that featured strong defensive play from both sides.
- Despite trailing 14-7 in the fourth quarter, Park City's resilient effort, including a crucial 2-yard touchdown run by Eli Warner to tie the game, and a 30-yard field goal by Tanner Pidwell in overtime, secured the win.
SPRINGVILLE — While most teams statewide wrapped up the regular season with games against region rivals, Springville and Park City went against the grain Wednesday night.
The schools from different classifications, located over an hour drive apart from each other, met up for a bout on a gusty night in Utah County.
Though there were no region titles or local bragging rights on the line, the random matchup turned into a wild game, with Park City prevailing in a 17-14 overtime slugfest to improve to 9-1 on the season.
"These games on Wednesdays are crazy," Park City coach Josh Montzingo said. "For strength of schedule, this is absolutely going to help us. We needed another win like this out of region, and also it's big just for momentum going into the playoffs."
The victory that will likely give the Miners, ranked sixth in the 4A RPI, a boost going into Saturday's final RPI ranking before the playoffs and all but assures it a first-round bye.
Securing the win, though, required some resilience — and a dose of luck.
The Miners trailed 14-7 in the fourth quarter, a deficit that felt sizable considering the quality of defense each side was playing throughout the night.
In the fourth quarter, Park City leaned on the field position game to get itself a shot, with a strong punt that was followed by a defensive stop and a poor Springville punt to start an offensive possession at the Red Devil's 20-yard line. The Miners cashed in with a 2-yard touchdown run by Eli Warner to tie the game with 4:05 remaining.
Springville had a chance to win at the end of regulation on the ensuing possession, but a 26-yard field goal by Jonathan Zafra slipped wide to the right.
In overtime, Miners kicker Tanner Pidwell connected on a 30-yard field goal to give Park City its first lead of the game. Then Park City's defense delivered, forcing Springville into a big loss on third down and into a 47-yard field goal try from Zafra, which had the distance but sailed wide left to end the game.
"Super physical, tough, everything you could ask for in an opponent, and it was just a glorious night back-and-forth with one haymaker and then another one," Montzingo said. "To finish like it did, super fun. We have a great kicker, and we weren't worried about him making something like that at all."
Both sides tried their hardest to implement the rushing attack throughout the game, each with limited success.
Springville's Lisiate Valeti used a number of big plays to lurch the hosts out in front, including a 16-yard touchdown run out of the Wildcat formation in the first quarter to go up 7-0.
He strung off a pair of explosive runs on Springville's opening drive of the second half, completing the sequence with a 5-yard touchdown run. Valeti finished the night with 147 rushing yards.
Park City's rush defense tightened, though, allowing just one first down the next three possessions to keep Springville from pulling away.
"That was our defense getting disciplined," Montzingo said. "At first, they tried to pin their ears back; they knew (Valeti) was going to run, we kind of over pursued, gave him some lanes to cut it back in. And then they just kind of tightened down, did what the coaches told them to do, stayed disciplined in their windows and he had nowhere to go."
Points were hard to come by for Park City, which punted seven times in the game. It got what it needed, though. Led by Warner, who finished with two rushing touchdowns, and a pair of positive runs in overtime to get the Miners into field goal range.
"It's tough; but in the end, you've just gotta keep running," Warner said. "Eventually, you're going to get yards and on the plays you don't get some you just gotta keep trying."
