BYU Takes Down Falcons

After dealing with playing in snow for two consecutive games BYU was happy to play on a sunny afternoon. and the offense didn't disappoint in the great conditions. BYU jumped out to an early lead on this pass.

Meanwhile the Cougar defense smothered the Falcons offensive attempts and kept them from getting a single first down in the first half. Great open field tackling kept the Falcons from getting any traction. Giving the BYU offense a short field to work with.

Last season the Cougars lived and died with the pass but with a renewed emphasis on a balanced attack they found the end zone on the ground to take a 12-0 lead into the half.

The Falcons kept the game close with the Cougars missing the extra-point attempts and the BYU offense being bogged down by an ever muddier field. The Cougar defense though didn't miss a step in the second half as they swarmed to the ball stifling anything the Falcons threw at them.

With memories of the Falcons near comeback last season the Cougars went out to slam the door shut on any hope remaining for the team in white. BYU went to the air to seal the deal and finally connected on a long bomb that knocked the Falcons out of the contest.

BYU improved their record to 1-0-1 and the Falcons fell to 0-2. The Falcons open up UTFL week 3 action with a 9 am contest against the Spartans and BYU will get a rematch of last season championship game against the Iron Wolves (formerly Black Knights) at 1 pm. Both games will be held at Orem Elementary school.

For more pictures from this contest go to our facebook page or check out a highlight video on YouTube. Be sure to go to www.hitsomeone.com to catch up on all the UTFL action.

Stalement in the Snow

Finally the UTFL spring season is upon us and Get Off The Bench Utah is going to be back in full force. It didn't look like a spring game as the BYU Cougars kicked off the season against familiar foe Utah Warriors. They met twice during the fall splitting the two games and with the added in climate weather this looked to be another great match up.

The defense's started strong swapping four and outs several times as both offenses struggled to get the ball moving in the snowy conditions. The Cougars finally gained some traction with the short passing game.

The team moved the ball down the field with short passes and QB scrambles leading to this touchdown.

BYU held on to their 6-0 lead for most of the game. Coming close to scoring several times but the wet ball lead to fumbles and dropped passes that killed drives. Late in the second half deep in their own territory BYU was forced to punt the ball away. The slippery conditions took another toll with a low punt right into the hands of a Warrior defensive lineman. He made a spectacular catch on the line drive punt and was able to carry the ball deeper into BYU territory. 

 

With the short field and messy footing the Warriors decided to pound away at the Cougar defense to reach the end zone. With under two minutes to play they punched it in tying the game at 6.

BYU's defense held strong on the extra point attempt to avoid last seasons week one heart breaking defeat. The offense went to the air and broke out the trick plays in an attempt to score. Despite the success on the trick play BYU was unable to find the end zone leaving the games final score a 6 all tie. So in three games against the Warriors BYU is 1-1-1 and starts the spring season 0-0-1. Next week BYU will be playing at Lakeridge Jr. High School in Orem with a 1pm kickoff against the 0-1 Falcons.

See pictures from this game and more on Get Off the Bench Utah's Facebook page or highlight videos on YouTube. If you want to know more about the Utah Tackle Football League or want to play check out www.hitsomeone.com. Thanks everyone for reading.

UVU, UIFL, and UTFL

Hey all it has been a long time sense I have updated the page and I will let you in on what I have been up to.

First I played on a team in the UIFL (check out there website http://www.eteamz.com/uifl/). The UVU Wolverines went 5-1 in the regular season and lost our only playoff game in triple OT. Being a full 11-man league it was too much for me to play and also blog about the games. Too much to remember after banging around for an hour. However this did not stop my lovely wife from taking pictures and videos of the games. Check out the pictures at the Facebook page and I compiled the videos and you can see them on YouTube.

On a more positive note the UTFL spring season starts up on the 23rd of February and I will be returning to the BYU team. Check out the league at www.hitsomeone.com or on their Facebook page. If there are interested players out there I am sure their are spots for you somewhere. Just say I, Michael Ward, referred you.

As far as the blog goes I will be trying to do weekly game updates for the BYU team and I want to start doing an All-Time Team blog in which I go through each of the NFL's 32 teams and create an All-Time team. I think I will just go by NFL draft order and start with the Kansas City Chiefs. I will take requests though and would love input on the blog. I know this ventures from the amateur focus of the blog but high school and college is out of season.

Thanks for reading everybody and remember to get off the bench.

Dixie Dismantles Dons in 4th to Take Title

Spanish Fork faced-off with its third team from St. George in a four week span; Pine View and Desert Hills had been defeated by the Dons, but now they met the Dixie Flyers for all the marbles at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The third time proved to be the charm for the city of St. George against Spanish Fork as Dixie dominated the 4th quarter to bring the 3A title down south.

The game was actually very close most of the time. The teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter and looked to be doing the same in the second after Dixie scored a second time Spanish Fork drove down to the Flyer 8-yard line looking to tie the game up.

Two plays later the Flyers hit pay dirt on a 36-yard bomb to take a 21-7 lead which held for the rest of the half.

Spanish Fork had found themselves 21-7 for the second week in a row and knew what it needed to accomplish. The defense held up its end of the bargin as the Don offense struggled to get back on track. Finally part way through the 3rd they broke the drought and scored on a 32-yard touchdown run to cut the game to 21-14.

Dixie and Spanish Fork exchanged two drives each with the defenses keeping things in check. When the Flyers scored on another big play; a 78-yard pass to once again take a 14-point lead.


Spanish Fork responded quickly with a 60 plus yard touchdown pass of their own to close out the 3rd quarter 28-21.

The comeback was not to be however as the Flyers scored on two more big plays on their next two drives; running plays of 63 and 36 yards to go up by 21. A Spanish Fork interception returned for a score by Dixie with just over 4 minutes left in the game sealed the championship for the Dixie High School Flyers with a final score of 49-21.

Congratulations Dixie High School!

Check out more photos from the game on our Facebook page.

Highlights from this game and others are available on our YouTube page.

The Black Knights Triumph in Snowy Championship

The night of November 9th brought heavy snow and a cold morning on the 10th did nothing to relieve the playing field of a think blanket of the white stuff. Both teams braved the elements for the chance to be the Fall 2012 UTFL champions, but only one could leave with that title.

The cold and wet conditions made getting traction and keeping possession a very difficult task. Both offenses sputtered while the defenses controlled the game. Slowly the field position battle went in favor of the Knights allowing them to break the 0-0 tie and take the lead.

The Black Knights defense got more aggressive with the lead bringing constant pressure and breaking up BYU passes left and right. The Cougars inability to move the ball kept the Black Knights in good field position giving them a chance to lengthen their lead.

BYU found themselves trailing 13-0 and needing a score. The Knight pass rush and the elements proved too much for the passing style offense run by the Cougars. The Knights scored once more to take an 18-0 lead. Time ran out and the Black Knights were crowned the kings of the UTFL completing an 8-0 season.

More photos are available on our Facebook page.

Check out highlights from this and other games on our YouTube page.

THANK YOU!

I just wanted to take a moment and thank all of you for helping me reach 1,000 views. Hopefully we can reach a thousand more and a few more followers as well. I will post twice more before Thanksgiving then take a break because I am going to DISNEYLAND!!!!!! for the holiday. Thanks again.

Dons Hold Off Thunder To Reach First Championship Game

Rice-Eccles Stadium was the venue for the Utah High School Semi-Final game between Spanish Fork and Desert Hills. Both teams had reached this point a year ago but fell short of their championship aspirations. Looking to reach new heights both teams put out an excellent effort and what turned into a great football game.

 

After being stalemated on their first drive the Thunder went 98-yards in seven plays to take a 7-0 lead. The catalyst of the drive was this 47-yard run and was capped off on a 38-yard scoring pass.

                                    

Spanish Fork responded with a scoring drive of their. Aided by a personal foul on the Thunder defense the Dons drove 80-yards and scored on a 20-yard pass to tie the game at 7 on the first play of the second quarter.

Midway through the second quarter Desert Hills scored on a 10-yard touchdown scramble to break the tie.

The Thunder struck (sorry couldn't help it) again on their next series, a 42-yard bomb to go up 21-7.

Trailing by fourteen late in the second quarter Spanish Fork looked to be in dire straights. Spanish Fork's sophomore QB Jason Money played beyond his age orchestrating a perfect 2-minute drill with four completions on four attempts totaling 63-yards. His play set up 16-yard draw play to bring the game to 21-14 score.

 

Spanish Fork kicked off to start the second half. The kicked was short and high and landed amidst several players. I think what happened was the Thunder blockers treated it like a punt and stayed away from the ball until they realized a hair too late that the ball is live on a kickoff. Spanish Fork got to the ball first. The Dons scored on the first play from scrimmage in the second half tying the game at 21. In less the two minutes of play Desert Hills went from leading by 14 to being tied up.

The Thunder offense stalled out on its first possession of the second half. The Don offense was red hot and looking to gain its first lead of the game. The Desert Hills defense needed a big play and made it happen with this interception.

A short field couldn't fix the Thunder's offensive problems. They tried a field goal which was blocked but given another shot when the refs ruled a time-out had been taken. The second attempt sailed wide left leaving the Thunder empty handed once again.

Spanish Fork took advantage of the Thunder miscue driving down the field for another touchdown to take a 28-21 lead on the last play of the 3rd quarter.

It was do or die time for the Thunder. They needed to stem tide after giving up 21 unanswered points. They proved they didn't make the long drive from St. George to roll over when faced with adversity. They responded in a big way driving 67-yards and scoring on a 1-yard touchdown plunge to tie the ball game.

The Thunder defense came up with another huge stop. Giving the offense the ball with just over 5-minutes left in the game and a chance to take back the lead. Disaster struck the Thunder (sorry again) on their first play of the drive the Dons picked off the Desert Hills pass.

The Dons started with great field position and capitalized on the opportunity punching the ball in from 2-yards out.

The Thunder ended up turning the ball over on downs allowing Spanish Fork to advance to the State Championship Game for the first time in school history.

  Check out Facebook for more photos.

A highlight video can be found on YouTube.