Against great teams, you have to capitalize on any and all opportunities you get.
Unfortunately for the Miners football team Friday night, they let a few drives stall out in Bountiful’s red zone, which ultimately cost them in a 14-6 loss.
Park City drove the ball with some success Friday. They had 14 first downs and just over 200 yards of total offense. Both first half scoring drives ended with Tanner Pidwell field goals.
The Miners defense held off the defending 5A state champ Redhawks as much as possible. They had less than 300 yards of total offense themselves, but they used their size and star running back Siaki Fekitoa to find the end zone on two occasions.
The loss spoiled some of Park City’s positive momentum from their upset of Olympus the week before. The Miners now have three losses for the first time since 2022, and it’s only mid-September. They’ll look to pick themselves up off the mat this week against new regional foe Mountain View and vie for playoff spots and seeding.
Park City moved into 4A’s Region 8 this year, featuring bigger and better teams. Head coach Josh Montzingo started the boys season off with some big tests to get them ready for the home stretch and the playoffs.
“It was another big, physical battle,” Montzingo said of Friday’s loss. “But, we had our chances. … We’ve got to do a better job of finishing when we get that chance.”
The Miners have two strong tailbacks in Eli Warner and Ethan Cunningham. Both struggled a bit Friday, with the larger 5A foe pushing the offensive line around a bit. Park City is also using athlete Niko Morgan as a wildcat quarterback to give the offense a spark when needed.
Montzingo and his staff will look to scheme Warner and others open a little better against the bigger teams moving forward. Mountain View will have another, if small, size advantage this Friday. The head ball coach lauded his defense for their recent run of form, giving up less than 15 points in each of their last two games.
“They’re great. They do such a great job,” Montzingo said. “They were down a couple of guys here and there, and that didn’t matter — next guy in for them. Big props to the whole staff there … They took the fight right to them all game long.”
Josh Hofer did a good job getting the ball out of his hands as quickly as possible under duress Friday for 15 completions and 166 yards. Hofer has played strongly in relief of Cole Morgan, who’s battled injuries. Montzingo’s staff will look to get their quarterbacks some quicker, easier reads moving forward as well.
Mountain View is 2-2 off the heels of a 3-8 campaign. The Bruins are spearheaded by junior signal-caller Tate Johnson, their top rusher as well. Montzingo said he feels the tough start to the season has his boys ready to eat Region 8’s best punches.
“We challenged them with a really tough five-game stretch here that we haven’t had in a while,” Montzingo said. “It’s not easy, and you definitely can’t just look at the results. … Gotta look at the process, and the process is making us stronger.”
Montzingo is proud of the fight and resiliency his team has shown. They’re learning the level of energy and attention to detail required to come out on top of some of these games. He hopes the team will believe in their peak abilities when the big moments of the season arise.
Friday night is homecoming for the Miners, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. on Dozier Field. It is one of three final home games for the team this season. With a win desperately needed, the team is confident they’ll have their patently strong home support.
“We’re not used to being below .500 at this point in the season,” Montzingo said. “There’s some feeling like, ‘Hey man, we’ve got to get this going.’ … We have an amazing community that supports us, and I anticipate it being a really good crowd out there.”