When Park City sophomore quarterback Chase Beyer lined up for the final snap of the game Friday night, he had a general idea of what he was looking for.
Down by one with five seconds left and on the Stansbury 30-yard line, Beyer had three receivers all standing over 6-foot-3 lined up to his left and 5-foot-8 sophomore Riley Finlayson by himself on the right. The plan was for Beyer to throw jump ball into the endzone and trust that his tall receivers would get the job done.
Alas, not all ideas go according to plan — and that was a good thing for Park City.
Beyer escaped pressure on the snap and threw a 50-yard bomb to the right corner of the endzone where Finlayson, who took a massive hit, made the game-winning catch with no time left on the clock.
Park City took down Region 10 rival Stansbury on the road, coming-from behind to win 33-28 and improve to 4-2 on the season (3-0 in region play).
“I know it sounds cliché but it’s really sad that somebody had to lose that game because that was two of the best teams in the state going at it all night long,” Miners head coach Josh Montzingo said. “The resiliency of our team and the fight we have, the boys never gave up on each other and I couldn’t be prouder. To finally get the win here against an extremely well-coached and talented team, it’s big for us.”
Park City entered the game winless in games played against Stansbury at Stallions Stadium. The intensity of the rivalry has grown over the past couple of years, and that’s why it was fitting that two sophomores who’ve yet to experience that intensity made the biggest play of the game — and possibly the season.
“I work hard to every single week to prepare for our games so that when the time comes, I’m never really nervous,” Beyer said. “On that last play, I just wanted to keep it alive and was forced to my right, and that’s when I saw Riley. He put his hand up and I knew where I had to throw it. … He made a great play on it for us.”
Finlayson, who was teammates with Beyer last season on Park City’s undefeated freshmen team, knew that once he saw Chase scramble, he just had to make a play.
“Originally I switched spots with Trond (Grizzell) so he could be part of the jump ball and I was just going to be a decoy,” Finlayson said. “I pretty much stopped on my route thinking the ball was going the other way, but when I saw Chase scramble and my guy take a step forward, I knew I had him beat. It was a great throw and I’m just happy we got the win.”
The Miners would’ve never been in that position if it wasn’t for two great plays by junior running back Max Alford and senior wide receiver Grizzell.
Down one with 24 seconds on the clock, the Miners had the ball at their own 30-yard line to start the drive. Alford made a one-handed catch out of the backfield and picked up 23 yards before he got out of bounds to stop the clock. On the next play, Grizzell caught a 17-yard pass from Beyer up against the sideline, showing great concentration to keep both feet in bounds to secure the catch.
“Those are plays that most people won’t notice but without them, we never even have a chance to win the game in the end,” Montzingo said. “We have so many playmakers and we trust each one of our guys and it showed tonight. Everyone who needed to make a play did just that.”
It was a thrilling finish for a game that featured Park City, ranked 9th in Class 4A, and Stansbury, ranked 4th.
The Stallions jumped out to the early lead, having a 14-6 advantage at the half.
The Miners then scored on three straight possessions in the second half, two by senior running back Kirby Baynes and a touchdown reception to Grizzell from Beyer for the 27-14 lead. Stansbury responded with two touchdowns on back-to-back drives to lead by one and set the stage for the dramatic finish.
Miners senior Coco Lukrich, who picked up a scholarship offer from Stanford on Thursday night, scored his first career touchdown in the first half.
Park City returns to action on Friday when they host Mountain View. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from Dozier Field.
