It may have taken five weeks into the 2020 high school football season, but the Park City Miners are starting to find their groove.
After slow starts in all four of their games thus far, resulting in a 2-2 record, Park City changed a few things up on offense and it worked.
The Miners scored on all five of their possessions in the first half en route to a resounding 48-3 victory over visiting Ogden on Friday night.
“Tonight was a good night for us. … A night we needed,” Park City head coach Josh Montzingo said. “This is more like who we are, or at least who we want to be. We want to run the ball, control the clock and play tough defense, and that’s what we accomplished tonight.”
After the opening kickoff, the Miners quickly got a stop before giving the ball to its offense and junior running back Carson Tabaracci. He then carried the ball five times to get the ball all the way down to Ogden’s six-yard line before senior Seth Warner scored the touchdown.
“I’ll do anything I can to help the team win and I’m just happy I was able to do that tonight,” Tabaracci said. “This is such a fun team to play on because we have so many weapons that I think teams struggle to defend us. … And tonight we showed that we are all capable of scoring and doing big things.”
Following another stop on defense, this time it was junior running back Max Alford’s turn to make a difference. He scored on a 68-yard run, breaking multiple tackles before out-sprinting the Tigers defense for the score.
Ogden threatened to score early in the second quarter when it had the ball at the Park City 9-yard line. But Warner stepped up on defense, intercepting the ball in the endzone on the first play of the quarter.
Senior Kirby Baynes capitalized on the turnover for the Miners, scoring on a 61-yard touchdown run. He not only broke multiple tackles and changed directions multiple times, he actually made an Ogden player miss two separate tackles during the run.
The Tigers got on the board late in the second quarter following a 43-yard field goal, making the score 20-3 with 3:35 left in the opening half.
That’s when the Miners really turned up the pressure.
Alford scored on a 55-yard run a minute later to extend the lead. And then the Miners were able to force a punt with 29 seconds left and 55 yards to go for the score.
This time it was sophomore quarterback Chase Beyer’s time to shine. He had a phenomenal drive in which he made the correct decision multiple times.
The big play came with 17 seconds left when he found senior wide receiver Trond Grizzell for a 20-yard gain along the sideline, in what was a great grab by Grizzell. The next play, Beyer found Grizzell again on a slant route for the six-yard score, giving the Miners a 34-3 lead at the half.
“We have so many weapons on offense that it’s just my job to get them the ball,” Beyer said. “I feel like we are dangerous as an offense and when games like tonight happen, it just makes it fun.”
Park City started the second half the same way it ended the first with Beyer finding Grizzell for a 29-yard touchdown on the opening possession. That made the score 41-3 and forced a running clock the rest of the way.
The Miners’ final score came on their ensuing possession when Tabaracci, who doubles as the backup quarterback, found a streaking Sam Alford for a 52-yard pass midway through the third quarter.
“We are definitely starting to figure things out right now,” Tabaracci said. “I still think there’s a whole other level we can reach so it’s going to be exciting the rest of the way. … But only if we keep putting our head down and working hard. We understand that’s what we have to keep doing if we want more nights like this.”
Park City returns to action next Friday when it travels to face Stansbury in a massive Region 10 showdown at 7 p.m. The Miners and the Stallions are two of the top teams in Class 4A, with the winner putting themselves firmly in the driver’s seat for the Region 10 crown.
“It’s time to get back to work,” Montzingo said. “Yes, tonight was fun and yes, we needed it. … But we know what’s awaiting for us in a week.”