If you kept a sharp eye on the sidelines at Dozier Field Friday night, you saw a head coach leaping three feet off the ground after shoestring tackles and first downs.
If you continued, you saw a head coach blow a gasket after a missed assignment or a blown coverage.
Kai Smalley flipped the switch on himself, and his team.
Gone was the coach who quietly paced the sidelines, clapping his hands in support. Smalley wanted his team to win.
Clad in full black attire, the Miners obliged their first-year head coach.
Park City took a 22-7 lead in the second quarter and leaned on some staunch defense to fend off a second-half rally by visiting Manti. The Miners defeated the Templars, 28-22 and improved to 2-3 on the season.
Friday night non-region games are now over this season and Smalley and his team couldn’t have asked for a better outcome to head into Region 10 play this Friday night.
Quarterback Paul Flake threw for 199 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown to junior Jono Schettler. Flake also rushed for two first-half touchdowns.
Senior running back Blake Thorne added 84 rushing yards on the night, including a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give the Miners a 15-point cushion.
When asked after the game why he was unusually animated, Smalley gave a fitting response.
“I took the defense over,” Smalley said. “I’ve been a defensive coach since I started and I take it very seriously.
“In offense, I try to be more strategic and laid back, so we can chip away at people, but on defense I just want to get after it. That’s how I am and evidently that’s what we need.”
While it was Park City’s highest scoring output of the 2010 season, the story of the game was the Miners’ defense, which once again was tested by a versatile rushing attack.
Early on, Park City’s defense was having difficulty picking up Manti’s different rushing schemes and Smalley was not shy letting his defense hear his discontent.
“We know we can do it, and we practice those things every day,” Smalley said. “We weren’t doing what I asked, when I told them before every single play that you must communicate.
“Everything on defense is done before the snap,” Smalley said. “Communication.”
The Miners fed off their coach’s energy and held the Templars offense in check for much of the night.
Playing on a team that runs a spread, no-huddle offense can be asking a lot of some defenses, especially at the high school level. Smalley mentioned it was discussed long ago and that the defense knew that it would be on the field more often than not.
“It comes down to conditioning and we’ve explained that to them from the beginning. If we’re going to be a no-huddle team like this, you’re basically playing five quarters,” Smalley said. “Our defense has really stepped up to the challenge.”
Junior defensive back Heath Vincent had two interceptions on the evening, including one on Manti’s opening possession that led to a 2-yard touchdown keeper by Flake with 5:50 left in the first quarter.
Manti took advantage of an interception thrown by Flake late in the second quarter, pulling within eight points, 22-14 at halftime.
The Miners came out in the third quarter and responded after Flake hit Schettler who looks to be his go-to receiver this season in stride on a quick crossing route. Schettler, who received some great downfield blocking, went 31 yards untouched into the end zone to make it 28-14.
“My favorite receiver is the open receiver,” Flake said. “When (Jono) gets open, he just makes plays. He’s great to have.”
Manti’s offense came back to life early in the fourth quarter as the Templars ate up nearly five minutes on a scoring drive that ended with 7:31 left. Manti converted the 2-point conversion, cutting Park City’s lead to just six.
As the offense suddenly hit a three-and-out roadblock in the fourth, it was upon the Park City defense to seal the victory.
Jack Rinehart came up with a huge sack late and Brian Schettler, who shined defensively at the safety position, quelled a double-reverse pass by Manti on the Templars’ last offensive possession.
Park City’s defense held the Templars with 4:24 left in the fourth. Manti never saw the ball again as Flake and Thorne killed the clock with runs late.
“We worked hard,” Thorne said.
While the Miners have protected home field this season, they’ll be seeking their first road win of the season against Union Friday in Roosevelt.
“It’s going to be a whole new season for us and the kids already know,” Smalley said. “I told them we need to forget what’s happened the last five weeks and we’ve just got to go in and play.”
When asked how it felt to be past the halfway point of his first year on the job, Smalley radiated the faith he has in his team.
“I feel great,” Smalley said. “These kids, they stepped it up. A lot of people in a situation being 1-3, and having lost the way we have in a couple of games, could go in the tank. These kids absolutely did not. They came out with no doubt in their mind that this was going to be a win. They came out swinging and they didn’t stop until that last play. I’m excited.”