Believe it or not, a new-look Park City High School football team may have found its offensive swagger in spite of a 27-21 loss to Duchesne Friday.

The Miners started senior Heath Vincent at the quarterback position in place of senior Paul Flake and he didn’t disappoint, throwing for 337 yards on 21-of-39 passing. Flake replaced middle linebacker John Finch, who missed the game due to right shoulder/arm numbness, and helped lead the way defensively, according to Park City head coach Kai Smalley.

“Paul Flake was huge for us on defense,” he said.

The senior had eight tackles. Peter Papineau lead the Miners with 12 tackles against the Eagles.

The Miners were able to make things interested after trailing 14-0 at halftime and scoring 21 second-half points. However, some controversial penalties went against Park City, which hindered an offense on the verge of breaking out of its early-season funk.

“It just disappoints me to finally get to a turning point, and those penalties and things that happened are out of your control,” Smalley said. “It’s hard to bounce back from it.”

Vincent ran for a touchdown, while Conner Lagnese, who was back from an injury, had an impressive 2011 debut, running for a score. Drue Olsen hauled in a touchdown pass from Vincent in the second half.

Smalley said Monday’s practice was the best the team has had so far this season.

“I probably am (in a better mood),” he joked Tuesday. “Our kids showed up and are taking things seriously. I hate to keep saying this, but maybe we’re just now finding out that we are a great team. We just have to come out now and put it all together.”

The Miners (0-3) will travel to Delta Friday to take on the 2-1 Rabbits, who are coming off a 21-6 victory over Stansbury.

Smalley said Vincent will be the starting quarterback and Flake will continue to help anchor the defense while Finch works his way back from injury.

“Heath came out and did a great job and Paul did a great job stepping in at that position,” he said. “We’re looking at making sure we keep consistency. We don’t want to be wavering.”