High school football offenses generally lag behind the defense at the beginning of the season, and it wasn’t any different for Grantsville in its season opening game Friday night against Cedar.
With all the offensive issues early, Dallin Williams helped spark the Cowboys by jumping a passing route and picking off a Cedar pass and returning it all the way for a touchdown. The Williams interception gave momentum to the entire Grantsville team and guided them to a 21-7 victory to kick off the season at Cowboy Stadium in Grantsville.
Ky Fisher had an all-around effective game with his rushing, throwing and pass catching abilities. Fisher rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown while also heaving a 25-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Hutchins in the second quarter. Fisher also caught three balls for 15 yards to lead the Cowboys offensively. Wyatt Smith led Grantsville on the ground with 52 yards rushing and Hutchins caught a pair of balls for 51 yards in the victory. Although he didn’t pass much, Nephi Meono had an efficient day passing, completing 7-of-8 passes for 58 yards.
A crowd looking for offense could have skipped the entire first quarter between Grantsville and Cedar. Both teams moved the ball marginally, but mistakes and untimely penalties put a hamper on a number of drives in the opening quarter.
Grantsville got deep into Cedar territory on its opening drive. Fisher converted a pair of first downs with his legs and his hands and Smith completed a 2-yard run on third-and-2 to keep the drive alive. However, a costly block in the back penalty essentially ruined a solid Cowboy drive in the first quarter.
The Cowboys had great position gift-wrapped for them early in the second quarter when Nick Arbon picked up a fumble by Cedar running back Dallin Grover to give Grantsville the ball 15 yards away from the end zone. Grantsville, however, returned the favor by fumbling away their scoring opportunity on their ensuing possession.
With the game still scoreless and only 3:42 left in the first half, Williams took matters into his own hands by jumping a pass thrown by Brecken Lewis and returning it 30 yards to give Grantsville their first points and a 7-0 lead.
Defense again sparked more points for Grantsville as Fisher was able to track down a tipped ball for an interception to give the Cowboys great field position. Fisher polished off the offensive scoring drive as well as he took the pitch and started running right but instead heaved a pass to a wide open Hutchins in the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 lead with 1:49 left in the half.
“This is the same defense as last year, give or take a few guys, so we knew we would be very good defensively,” said Grantsville head coach Tony Cloward. “At the beginning of the season, defense should be in front of the offense, but I was really pleased with the offense. We just didn’t finish drives like we should have.”
The Grantsville momentum took a punch to the gut just before halftime as the Cowboy defense suffered really their only blemish. Just after Grantsville took a 14-point lead, Lewis lofted a pass to Jeff Rogers down the sideline for a 65-yard touchdown to bring Cedar within 14-7 at the half.
Looking to regain their momentum to open the second half, Grantsville caught a break when Cedar fumbled away their punt return attempt. Meono followed the bumbled punt with an 11-yard run and then found Hutchins down the sideline for a 28-yard reception to get inside the 5-yard line. Fisher finished off the drive with a 1-yard run up the gut to give Grantsville a 21-7 lead with 7:36 left in the third.
That would be all the offense that Grantsville needed with their defense holding strong and keeping Cedar off the scoreboard the entire second half. Grantsville moved the ball in the second half and helped run off time from the clock but couldn’t add on any more points over Cedar.
One player who stood out to Cloward on the defense was the play of Clay Matthews, who not only played solid all game but delivered a punishing hit on Cedar’s Jace Cravey on the final play of the game to cap off the victory.
“Our defense builds off the momentum that D-Will (Dallin Williams) started with the interception,” Matthews said after the game. “We just swarm to the ball and we have that togetherness that makes our defense special.”
The Cowboys kept Cedar to only 137 total yards the entire game and only 51 yards rushing for a Redmen team that prides itself on the run game. Grantsville piled up 170 yards rushing and 253 total yards in the victory.
Grantsville (1-0) will next take the short trip to face Tooele (0-1) on Friday for a tilt at 7 p.m.