You see stuff like this in movies.
The team’s struggling. Things seem to be going in every wrong direction. But then something happens to provide that sought-after spark.
Jono Schettler provided more than a spark Friday night.
He supplied a canister of gasoline and a match to a Park City High School football team that was on the wrong end of a 19-7 score.
As the Miners lined up on their own 20-yard line for the first play of the fourth quarter, the momentum needle was pointing at Delta’s sideline.
Then Paul Flake made an unbelievable throw. Schettler blew by the cornerback covering him and Flake’s missile landed just over the Delta safety. Schettler was off to the races.
Schettler saw nothing but green in front of him and raced 80 yards to bring the Park City crowd back to life.
“I was scared I wasn’t going to make it,” Schettler said. “The (cornerback) looked like he tripped or something and then I started bobbling it. It ended up in my hands and I just went off from there.”
The Miner offense had seen its fair share of struggles through the first three quarters. The Rabbits’ defense pestered Park City’s spread offense and was hurrying Flake on numerous occasions.
But momentum is a crazy thing in sports. After Flake launched that ball into the hands of Schettler, the stands grew louder and louder with each snap of the football.
“It was a big momentum changer,” Flake said. “We never give up, but it definitely helped to get off and start (the quarter) like that.”
Head coach Kai Smalley believes his team has the fortitude to win close football games and sees growth through wire-to-wire wins.
“Winning a game like this is probably better for us than coming out and getting a blowout,” Smalley said. “We’re used to playing full games now. We’re not giving up in the fourth quarter.”
As for Schettler’s igniter, he was just happy to be part of it. When asked if it matters how or where he catches the ball, he responded, “It doesn’t really matter, as long as I catch it, and it looks like it’s been working out,” he said.
Looks like it.