The Miners football team took down Sky View 23-20 Friday afternoon in the second round of the 4A playoffs. With the win, Park City advances to the playoff quarterfinals, where they’ll face top seed Ridgeline once more.
The Miners opened up the scoring against Sky View with a perfectly thrown fade route touchdown by Josh Hofer to Brogan Price in the first quarter. The second quarter provided some fireworks — Tanner Pidwell nailed two 35+ yard field goals, Sky View found the end zone for their first score and Hofer nailed Charlie Cusimano on a perfectly thrown 44 yard go ball for another touchdown.
Pidwell would hit from 44 yards in the third quarter to extend the 20-3 halftime lead to 23-3. Sky View would then mount their comeback, scoring 13 fourth quarter points. Sky View attempted an unsuccessful onside kick in the game’s final minutes, before a Park City first down by Eli Warner put the game on ice.
“It’s always great to protect your home field,” said Miners Head Coach Josh Montzingo. “We wanted a home game, got it, and protected it against a really good team there.”
Montzingo said he was proud of his boys for their defensive effort and balanced offensive attack Friday. Park City held Sky View to their second lowest points total this season.
“We knew their offense was going to get some,” Montzingo added. “The best thing is that our offense really came alive today.”
The Miners offense helped keep the ball away from Sky View as the game was winding down. Montzingo credited Warner, Ethan Cunningham and Owen Osorio for running the ball well against a big defensive front and Price, Cusimano and other receivers in making big and tough catches.
“It was a hard fought playoff game, and our defense made them work for it,” Montzingo said. “They had to really grind. … Can’t ask for any more.”
“All special teams were great,” he added. “We have one of the best kickers in the state, if not the nation, and he showed up tonight. … Then, we got that onside (kick) that we needed.”
Montzingo’s postgame speech to the team focused heavily on their next opponent in Ridgeline. Ridgeline took down East 73-14 Friday and are undefeated, taking down Park City 39-3 on Dozier Field Aug. 22. Montzingo said that almost nobody around the sport believes the Miners can pull off the upset next Friday on the road, but he does. Multiple Park City players stood up and passionately expressed their agreement with Montzingo.
“It’s always interesting when you play somebody twice,” Montzingo said. “We’ll be able to go see how they attacked us and what we did that worked.”
The Miners are hoping Hofer will be the x-factor this time around against Ridgeline. His mobility and passing ability will need to be impactful against the Ridgeline defense that has 247 Sports four star recruit Krew Jones at defensive end and BYU commit Graham Livingston at safety.
“They are the team to beat,” Montzingo said. “They’re super well coached. and have, players at every position. We have got to go play a clean game.”
Park City got back to work Saturday morning with recovery work.
“As a senior, to go out with a win here at Dozier is awesome,” said linebacker Alex Brannigan. “We really do have a brotherhood.”
Brannigan said that the team has been locking in more than ever during the playoffs. He said every rep in practice has been focused and strong.
“As long as everyone does their job, we’ll be fine,” Brannigan added. “At the end of the day, if you have less mistakes than the other team, you’ll be victorious.”
The Miners players have their 39-3 losing score from their earlier Ridgeline game written on all of their lockers. They want to remember how that loss felt and avenge it next Friday. Brannigan said a key to reversing their fate will be wanting the win that much more than Ridgeline.
“We’re looking forward to it,” Brannigan said. “This whole season has been preparing us play against Ridgeline. We’re the two best teams out here in Utah, and it’s going to be a great game.”
Brannigan said that Park City needs to punch Ridgeline in the face first. The Miners hope an early start will set the tone for the rest of the game. Brannigan hopes for strong crowd support nearly two hours north. Kickoff at Ridgeline is slated for 6 p.m.
“It could impact the game,” Brannigan said about crowd support. “I’m looking forward to everyone being able to make that drive out to Ridgeline.”