Three plays turned out to be the difference.

South Summit head football coach Jerry Parker said his defense was staunch for much of the night, holding the high-octane Millard Eagles in check. But three plays, which he dubbed “broken assignments,” turned out to be the difference Friday night in Fillmore as the Eagles beat the Wildcats 24-7.

“The three plays we gave up resulted in points,” he said.

Millard scored a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter to open up the scoring before quarterback Tanner Slavens threw a 20-yard touchdown to Taylor Komarek. The Eagles added to their 10-point lead in the third quarter when star running back Pancho Alcala rushed for a two-yard touchdown.

But after the Wildcats entered the fourth quarter down 17-0, junior running back Porter Santos, who rushed for 78 yards on 12 carries, punched in a 14-yard touchdown run, cutting the Eagles’ lead to 17-7. South Summit led another charge deep into Eagles territory late in the fourth, but Millard’s Jesse Rhodes intercepted a red-zone pass and went 80 yards for the touchdown, sealing the victory.

“We just couldn’t score in the red zone,” Parker said. “We drove the ball pretty well. We had three drives over 10 plays or longer, and came up empty; we were inside the 10 on them a couple different times and we couldn’t put it in.”

The South Summit head coach estimated his team made it into the red zone five to seven times against the Eagles and was only able to come away with seven points. If the Wildcats are to make noise against a revamped region in the coming weeks, they’ll need to fix this glaring issue, Parker said.

Parker said the duo of Alcala and Rhodes put more hurt on the Wildcats defensively than offensively. Along with Rhodes’ 80-yard interception return, Parker said South Summit had a hard time dealing with Alcala’s energy and toughness.

“We just didn’t finish this last game,” he said. “We run option and, if you can’t function in the red zone running the option, you’re in trouble. In the past, we’ve always done a really good job. For whatever reason, we didn’t get it done. Millard stiffened right up.”

Parker reiterated that this year’s schedule is no cakewalk and that his team must be prepared to show up every Friday night.

“I really like how our games were set up,” he said, “other than the fact we’re playing these tough teams on the road. And, experience wise, I think it’s affected us a bit. We lost 22 seniors last year.”

In recent seasons, South Summit has rolled through region play before taking on some of the better teams in the state in the playoffs, but this year does not correspond with years past, according to Parker.

“I like that,” he said. “Now I know where we fit right. Over the last couple years, we really didn’t know; we kind of had our way (in region). This year, we need to play. If we play, we’re OK.”

Homecoming Week in Kamas features the North Sevier Wolves as the Week Five opponent. The Wolves are 1-3 and Parker said the 2-2 Wildcats need to show some swagger to try and regain some confidence.

He said the likes of senior defensive tackle Kyle Pitt, who has played stout for the South Summit defense so far this season, will help the team.

“If we can handle the distractions of Homecoming, we should be OK,” Parker said.

He added that this week is a time for his team to regroup after a tough loss to a good opponent. He said he’s looking for his kids to “refocus” as a whole.

“We feel OK,” he said. “We feel like everything is still in front of us, but we definitely need to get going.

“In a lot of ways, we’re a team that’s kind of on cruise. We’re not good enough to be on cruise and we’ve got to get with it and we’ve got to find some urgency.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at Wildcat Stadium.