It’s a juggernaut as Tigers win 19th straight

Hurricane's Adam Thompson is pursued by a pair of Snow Canyon defenders Friday night in the Tigers 38-7 win, St. George, Utah, Sept. 21, 2012 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – It’s starting to look like no one can stop the Hurricane Tigers.

Hurricane’s Jared Edwards reaches for a screen pass Friday night in the Tigers 38-7 win, St. George, Utah, Sept. 21, 2012 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News

Last week the Dixie Flyers, one of Region 9’s top offensive squads, tried and fell short by two points. This week the Snow Canyon Warriors had as much luck, losing by a wide 38-7 margin on their home field.

The Tigers controlled the game from the outset. They were poised, cool and confident.

Snow Canyon, on the other hand, had difficulty on both ends of the field. Defensively, it couldn’t stop Jared Edwards or Adam Thompson, who each ran for two touchdowns on the night. Offensively, quarterback Mason Smith just couldn’t establish any rhythm (finishing with 134 total yards).

“I think the game was closer than the scoreboard showed,” Edwards said.

Indeed, the Warriors made costly mistakes in pivotal moments of Friday night’s game. Down 14-0 early in the second quarter, the Warriors drew a facemasking penalty that extended an already hefty 25-yard Thompson punt return by an additional 15 yards.

Two plays later, Edwards ran in an easy touchdown that increased the lead to 21-0 after the extra point.

The Warriors struck back on the ensuing drive with their only touchdown of the night, courtesy of running back Mitch Phillips. But early in the second half, trailing 24-7, the Warriors took a costly gamble that didn’t pay off.

Facing a fourth down situation, the Warriors opted to go for the first down rather than punt. Smith attempted a risky throw to Zach Kennedy, but threw it far over the receiver’s head. Hurricane took possession on the Warriors 34-yard line and easily marched in for the score.

By that time, it was obvious Hurricane had put a stranglehold on the game and wasn’t about to let up.

“I said a few times this year that we need to control only what we can control,” Hurricane head coach Chris Homer said. “We need to believe in our teammates, run our plays our way no matter what and forget about everything else.”

Homer’s philosophy has helped the Tiger’s win a stunning 19 games in a row dating back to last season. In fact, the last time Hurricane lost was to Juan Diego in the 3A State Championship back in 2010.

“Those are just empty numbers,” Edwards said. “It’s not a big deal how many games we win in a row. We don’t focus on things like that. We prepare for practice Monday and the games on Friday. We can’t dwell on the past.”

Hurricane must now face Pine View next Friday.

Stats(1)

Hurricane’s Keanu Stevenson handles the ball on a misdirection play Friday night in the Tigers 38-7 win over Snow Canyon, St. George, Utah, Sept. 21, 2012 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News

 

Snow Canyon’s Mason Smith is surrounded by Hurricane defenders Friday night in the Tigers 38-7 win, St. George, Utah, Sept. 21, 2012 | Photo by Dave Amodt, St. George News

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2012, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.