The South Summit Wildcats scored 27 unanswered points in the first half en route to a 34-7 pounding of the North Sevier Wolves Friday night in Kamas.
Senior fullback Riley Rockhill ran for 92 yards on seven carries and senior quarterback Matt Rydalch completed 7 of 11 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown before head football coach Jerry Parker called in the reserves early in the second half.
“Our fullback played really well, and I thought our quarterback had a really good game too,” Parker said.
The Wolves struggled to move the ball against the Wildcat defense, Parker said, but still managed to run a lot of plays. The main reason: penalties called against the Wildcats.
“There were a million penalties in the game, everything from illegal fair catch to illegal push in the back,” Parker said. “This year we’ve had more penalties than we’ve had in a while. I don’t know what’s going on.”
The Wildcats scored on their first drive of the game, with Rockhill rambling the final 20 yards, and moved the ball almost at will in the first half. It was 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and 27-0 at the half, with a missed extra point providing the only blemish.
With the Wildcats’ reserves playing most of the second half, there was no scoring in the third quarter and a pair of touchdowns one by each team in the fourth quarter.
South Summit finished the game with 359 yards of total offense 223 on the ground and 136 in the air. Junior fullback Jay Reidhead contributed 42 yards to the ground game (on five carries) and scored a touchdown. Senior wide receiver Kory Woolstenhulme had two catches for 42 yards and a touchdown.
Parker said senior lineman CJ Metcalf had a strong game on defense. Metcalf recovered a fumble and ran 18 yards to score the other South Summit touchdown.
Even the weather gods cooperated in Kamas Friday, turning off the spigot just before game time after a downpour threatened to drench the field and the fans.
The Wildcats, now 3-2 overall and 2-1 in league play, travel to Manti Friday to face the division-leading Templars.