Valley rivals Mountain Crest Mustangs came to town and battled with the Smithfield Bobcats in a close game that came down to the wire. The Mountain Crest Mustangs scored first, but then the Bobcats mounted an ambush that resulted in two scores in the second quarter. Two Mustang fourth quarter scores would seal the Bobcats fate, and when the dust settled Mountain Crest headed south with the victory.

The Mustangs put numbers on the board first when quarterback Eddy Hall hooked up with Braden Fuller on a 46 yard touchdown pass. Justin Call added the extra point and with just 2:57 left in the quarter Mountain Crest was up 7-0.

Sky View stumbled a bit in the second quarter when Nick Carver’s pass was intercepted by Fiamafili Laulu Pututau with 9:28 on the clock. Sky View refused to roll over however striking back when Carver found Mitch Larsen for a 15 yard touchdown pass with 6:18 to go in the second. The back and forth game finally came to a halt when Carver hit Skyler Hunt with a 19 yard pass that found Hunt in the end zone and senior kicker Josh Egbert nailed both of the extra points to send Sky View into the locker room up 7-14.

The third quarter was more of the same back and forth with the punting game slowly starting to favor the Mustangs as far as field position goes. As the clock ran out in the scoreless third quarter Mountain Crest was on the 10 yard line and looking to score. The Msutang faithful didn’t have long to wait as the first play of the fourth quarter was good for six. Hall threw a strike to Pututau for the score, and a missed extra point breathed new life into the Bobcats when score ended up being 13-14.

The valley rivals put on a show for the crowd each showing signs of life here and there only to give the ball back to the opponent. That was until just under the four minute mark when Hall connected on his third touchdown of the night, finding Ethan Peterson for a 5 yard score. On the ensuing 2 point conversion try Hall, who appeared to be looking to pass, was flushed from the pocket and then behind a few Mustang blocks was able to get things done on the ground putting Mountain Crest up 21-14.

Sky View refused to quit. On their final drive after the Mountain Crest score, Yabitse Wells took the Mustang kick off inside the 5 yard line, behind good blocks and some fancy footwork, Wells brought the ball out to around their thirty yard line. It was then that the Bobcats clawed out some yardage in the ground game with back to back hand-offs to Sean Gero. The senior pounded out some serious yards bouncing it outside for 15 yards. On his next touch Gero went between the guard and tackle and headed up the middle to the Mustangs 24 yard line. Coming off an injury Corey Jensen made a remarkable catch, going up over the defender to snag the pass and back peddled his way to the 4 yard line.

On the next play Carver on a keeper was only able to make it back to the line of scrimmage. Lined up with an empty back field Gero came off the end, and on a reverse like play was dropped for a small loss. Another Carver keeper didn’t produce any more yardage. On the Bobcat’s final play of the game flushed from the pocket and throwing on the run Carver’s pass came up short just missing Corbin Lee’s outstretched arms. Gero said, “Our o-line play was just really good . . . our pulling tackles were just doing way good and our recievers were doing good blocking.” (Sean Gero will most likely see his last game as a Bobcat next week against the Box Elder Bees. Gero’s family will be moving to Saratoga Springs, where he hopes to pick up there where he leaves off at Sky View.)

Taking over on downs Mountain Crest pounded out a few yards on the ground and with right around a minute left on the clock found themselves with third down and about 3 yards to go. If the Bobcats could hold them they had a chance to get the ball back and a have a few chances to go for the end zone. Unfortunately the Bobcat’s fell for the hard count, and jumping off sides, sealed the game as they were out of timeouts. The Mustangs were able to run out the clock and went away with the victory.

Head Coach Craig Anhder said, “I thought our kids played hard, I thought we battled. You know we were playing a field position game, and there in the second half they got some great field position. They were able to move the ball and pin us back, and we couldn’t get out of it. I think that field position game we lost that there in the second half, where I thought we won that in the first half.”

Sky View’s Nick Carver was 9-of-25 for 140 yards passing, tossing two touchdowns, while throwing one interception. Catching Carver passes were Corey Jensen who had four for 84 yards. Mitch Larson had a pair for 29 yards. Yabitse Wells, Alex Watts, and Skyler Hunt each had one catch. Mitch Larson and Skyler Hunt each turned one of their catches into touchdowns.

Sean Gero led the rushing game averaging nearly 10 yards per carry with seven touches for 68 yards. Carver carried the ball twelve times picking up 26 yards. Alex Watts also had seven carries for 16 yards, while Skyler Hunt picked up 16 yards on his solo run.

Tre’ Hansen once again lit up the opposing offense picking up seven solo tackles and teaming up for four more. Milyon Chantrry, and Cole Bangerter each had four tackles a piece, Bangerter had four additional assists. Corbin Lee registered one and a half sacks for a loss of 12 yards. Connor Chambers and Ethan Dursteller each had solo sacks, while Garth Jolley teamed up with Lee for a sack. Garth Jolley was visibly upset with the loss, but said, “It doesn’t matter what scenario we’re given we just need to take our cards and play them . . . I know our line backing corps and our defense we fight, we didn’t give up in that game.” Speaking of what they will have to do differently in next weeks game Jolley commented, “We just take what we are given, watch film, learn from our mistakes, and just execute.”

Ander expressed pride in how his team fought for this game saying, "I’m proud of the kids that played tonight, I thought they played hard, I cannot second guess their effort. I know there were mistakes made, but we can correct those by just getting in watching film and having the attitude of getting better.

On special teams Yabitse Wells had a pair of returns for 52 yards, Alex Wells had a return for 14 yards. Konner Christensen had three punt returns for 18 yards.

The Bobcats were penalized eight times for 51 yards, while the Mustangs were hit nine times for 49 yards. Time of possession went to the Mustangs with 25:16 minutes to the Bobcats 22:44. Each team picked up twelve first downs.

The Bobcats 1-4-0 on the season (0-1-0 Region) will be at home again Friday when they host the Box Elder Bee’s. The Bees come to town with at 4-1-0 record and are 1-0-0 in region having knocked off Roy on Friday night 17-0. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Game Summary

Scoring

First Quarter

Mountain Crest (2:57) – Hall to Fuller 46 yd TD Pass (Call PAT)

Second Quarter

Sky View (6:18) – Carver to Larson 15 yd TD Pass, Egbert PAT
Sky View (1:08) – Carver to Hunt 19 yd TD Pass, Egbert PAT

Third Quarter

No Scores

Fourth Quarter

Mountain Crest (11:54) – Hall to Pututau 10 yd TD Pass, Missed PAT
Mountain Crest (3:53) – Hall to Peterson 5 yd TD Pass, Hall run or 2 pt. conversion