One week after a disappointing loss on its homecoming night, it was the Grantsville football team’s turn to play the spoiler Friday night in Roosevelt.
The Cowboys put together their most dominant performance of the season, demolishing Union 43-15 in the Cougars’ homecoming game to pick up their first Class 3A North win of the year behind running back Gage Schmidt’s 213-yard, three-touchdown effort.
Grantsville (2-4, 1-1 Class 3A North) controlled the clock with its punishing running attack, racking up 392 yards on 44 attempts while limiting Union (2-4, 1-1) to 121 yards of total offense, including minus-2 yards on the ground.
The Cowboys took the lead early in the second quarter after a grueling 11-play, 97-yard drive that ate up nearly five and a half minutes. Schmidt finished the drive with a 4-yard scoring run that put Grantsville in front 7-0. The Cowboys recovered the ensuing onside kick on the Cougars’ 41-yard line and got a pair of 19-yard runs from Schmidt and Braxton Hansen to set up quarterback Coy Johnson’s 5-yard scoring run just over two minutes later. A botched snap on the point-after attempt turned out well for the Cowboys, as Johnson recovered and found Parker Bird in the end zone for a two-point conversion and a 15-0 advantage.
Union closed the gap with just under 5 minutes left in the half after Brock Brinkerhoff intercepted a pass from Johnson that went through receiver Ammon Bartley’s hands. Brinkerhoff returned the ball to the Cowboys’ 5-yard line, and Cougars quarterback Lincoln Labrum hit Chase Berlin for a 5-yard TD pass with 4:50 left to cut Grantsville’s advantage to 15-7.
The Cowboys answered with an 80-yard scoring drive just before halftime, sparked by a 41-yard Schmidt run that got Grantsville into Union territory. Johnson extended the drive with a 13-yard pass to Bird on a fourth-and-3 play later in the possession, and Schmidt scored on a 10-yard run three plays later to give the Cowboys a 22-7 lead at halftime.
The onslaught continued into the third quarter, as Grantsville continued to eat up time and yardage with its ground game. The Cowboys got the ball on their own 40-yard line to open the second half, and big runs by Hansen, Schmidt and Justin Richardson got them deep into Union territory. Johnson found Richardson for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 5:24 left to extend the lead to 29-7.
After the Cougars went three-and-out on their next possession, the Cowboys embarked on a quick six-play, 72-yard drive. Again, Johnson’s arm helped Grantsville extend the drive, as he found Bartley for an 11-yard gain on fourth-and-6. Two plays later, Schmidt ran it in from 6 yards out for his third score of the evening.
Even when Union finally got something going offensively on its next possession, Grantsville was up to the challenge. A 34-yard pass from Labrum to Nate Foote and an 17-yard pass to Gage Roberts got the Cougars to the Grantsville 16-yard line, but a bad snap and a sack by Beau Johnson backed Union up. The drive ended when Hansen intercepted a fourth-down pass from Labrum in the end zone.
Richardson ripped off a 77-yard run to the Cougars’ 3-yard line on the next play, and extended the Cowboys’ lead to 43-7 with a 3-yard plunge into the end zone with 9:52 left. With the mercy rule in effect, Union scored on a 9-yard pass from Labrum to Jarom Miller in the final minute. Labrum found Roberts for the two-point conversion to account for the final margin.
Coy Johnson threw for 46 yards and ran for 20 more for Grantsville. Richardson had 96 rushing yards on just six attempts and Hansen carried the ball three times for 36 yards. Bird had two receptions for 31 yards.
The Grantsville defense limited Labrum to just 123 yards through the air. The sophomore was 9-for-17 and threw two interceptions, including one to Grantsville senior Brady Arbon on the Cougars’ first possession. Beau Johnson and Isaac Riding each sacked Labrum twice.
Grantsville will be on the road again this Friday, making the trip to Price to face winless Carbon (0-6, 0-2).