On a brisk Friday night, the Park City Miners faced off against the Dixie Flyers for their first game of the 4A playoffs. To set the stage, the Miners have had an incredibly successful regular season, finishing the year with a 9-1 record. On the other side of the ball, the Flyers have had an up and down season, showing some flashes of explosiveness and finishing the year with a 5-6 record. These two teams faced off earlier in the season, with Park City coming away with a tight 24-21 victory.
The Miners struck gold first, with a fortunate fumble recovery by Benjamin Beatty on Park City’s first offensive drive. The Flyers responded with a touchdown of their own in the first quarter, after intercepting Park City QB Lincoln Jackson deep in Miner territory. The turnovers plagued both sides of the ball in the first half. The Miners threw two interceptions, and the Flyers threw an interception in addition to a late fumble in the second quarter. At the end of the first half, the score was Miners 14 – Flyers 7.
In the second half, Park City and Dixie traded touchdowns in the 3rd quarter, keeping the game close and contested. On the next drive, after a late hit on the quarterback from Dixie, the Miners punched in a rushing touchdown and 2-point conversion courtesy of Carson Navarro, to stretch the score to 29-14 in favor of the Miners. On the very next drive, Navarro came up clutch with an interception in the middle of the field. Navarro on the next offensive drive scored another rushing touchdown to ice the game. The final score on the night was 36-14, Miners.
The Miners will face off next Friday against the Timpanogos Timberwolves at home at 6 p.m. and you can catch all the action right here on KPCW!
In other action across the Wasatch back, the 6-4 North Summit Braves faced off against the 9-1 Enterprise Wolves for their quarterfinal matchup in the 1A playoffs. The Braves could not keep up with the high-powered rushing attack of the Wolves, giving up 4 rushing touchdowns in the 1st half. The final score of the night was 35-6, Wolves. The Braves will finish their season 6-5.
In 2A playoff action, the South Summit Wildcats took care of business in their first playoff game of the season, as they steadily handled the Delta Rabbits with a dominant rushing attack from their offense. The Wildcats came away with 7 touchdowns in the game, split 5 on the ground and 2 through the air. The final for the game was 48-7, Wildcats. The Wildcats will take on the Layton Christian Eagles in the 2A semifinals next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
