The Tooele football team came into Friday’s regular-season finale against Judge Memorial with little to play for, with the Buffaloes having already clinched second place in Class 3AA North and a first-round bye in the state playoffs.
However, the Buffs wanted to put an exclamation point on things with a strong performance, and they got it as Tooele pounded out 398 yards on the ground in a 26-21 win over the Bulldogs at McCarthey Stadium in Salt Lake City.
“It was very important,” said junior running back Pete Smith, who led Tooele (7-3, 5-1 Class 3AA North) with 193 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. “We didn’t want to just show people that we got to second [place] just by chance. We wanted to show people that we deserve to be second in our region, and that’s what we came out here to do.”
Tooele finished with 466 yards of total offense. Lincoln Powers had 101 yards on 21 carries, and Jeno Bins added 54 yards on six attempts.
Smith tore up the Bulldogs’ defense, with four carries of 24 yards or longer in the first half. His longest run, a 68-yard sprint down the right sideline, set up the Buffaloes’ first score of the game on a 1-yard run by Carver Jaramillo with 6:59 left in the first quarter.
“All of [the defenders] went to the outside,” Smith said of his long run. “My linemen blocked them all so I could have a lane, and I just took it and tried to get as many yards as I could.”
Judge Memorial (3-7, 2-4) tied the game on a 28-yard pass from Jack Boomer to Tofa Fainga’a with 3:12 left in the first quarter after Tooele fumbled the ball away deep in its own territory.
The Buffs regained control just before the midway point of the second quarter with a nine-play, 69-yard drive that culminated in spectacular fashion.
With Tooele facing fourth-and-12 from the Judge 27-yard line, the Buffaloes decided to try a trick play. Jaramillo handed the ball to running back Ryan Brady, who threw the ball to a wide-open Ty Allred for a touchdown that put the Buffs up 14-7 with 6:56 left in the first half.
“We’ve always had that kind of hidden in the playbook, and Coach dialed it up right at the right time and it worked,” Allred said.
The second half got off to a wild start, as Powers forced a fumble by the Bulldogs’ Sport Falamaka on the second play of the third quarter. Three plays later, Jaramillo had a pass intercepted by Judge’s Kelsin Pupunu.
But Powers came up big again on the next play, picking off a pass from Boomer and returning it 53 yards for a score to extend the lead to 20-7.
The Bulldogs didn’t roll over. On their next play from scrimmage, Sam Cassel took a sweep to the right side and outran the Tooele defense for a 61-yard touchdown run, closing the gap to 20-14 with 9:42 left in the third quarter.
A poor punt by Judge gave Tooele excellent field position just short of midfield in the final minute of the quarter. Bins ripped off a 39-yard run for the Buffs, and Smith finished the job two plays later with a 10-yard TD run for a 26-14 advantage as the third quarter ended.
“Our line did an excellent job today,” Tooele coach Kyle Brady said. “We had close to 400 rushing yards. Any time you can do that, you’ll be able to win ballgames.”
Boomer connected with Cassel for a 26-yard TD pass with 3:46 left to make it a one-possession game, but Ryan Brady recovered the ensuing onside kick.
An excellent punt by Tooele’s Gavin Beck gave the Bulldogs the ball inside their own 10-yard line with under two minutes left and one timeout. A pair of false-start penalties hampered the Bulldogs’ offense, and Judge turned the ball over on downs after three consecutive incomplete passes. The Tooele defense limited Judge Memorial to 261 total yards.
“It was a little bit sloppy. We had too many penalties and gave up some big plays on defense,” Kyle Brady said. “Good teams get wins however they can. Overall, we played well enough to win the game, and that’s all that matters.”
Tooele will have next week off before playing host to either Park City or Hurricane in a state quarterfinal game on Nov. 6 or Nov. 7.
“Whoever we play, we’re going to be ready,” Allred said. “We’ve got quite a few bumps and bruises, but we’re going to be healed up and we’re going to be ready to go.”
The Buffs will be without the services of senior Taejohn Koffel, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the team’s win over Park City on Oct. 14. Kyle Brady said his team can use the absence of one of its leaders as a motivational tool.
“I know Taejohn’s talked to a few of the guys,” he said. “I think that they feel like since they’ve played football with him since they were eight years old … it’s kind of, ‘let’s go out on a winning note for him.'”