Despite coach Josh Montzingo’s best efforts, the faces on Park City’s sideline were crestfallen as East lined up for a game-tying extra point with under a minute left in the game.
This was a Miners football team that had been in this situation before, having lost its first three games by just 22 points. After Park City allowed two late touchdowns to let the 14-point lead it held entering the fourth quarter nearly evaporate, there was a “Groundhog Day” feeling for the Miners.
Or at least there was until a sea of hands deflected the Leopards’ point-after kick, making it flutter harmlessly into the turf short and wide left of the uprights. Park City (1-3, 1-0) recovered the ensuing onside kick and knelt out the rest of the clock to secure a 24-23 win Friday at Dozier Field, its first victory of the season and a perfect start to region play.
“It’s really hard, I could see some faces start to panic a little bit,” Montzingo said. “I just told them, ‘Hold together, hold together. At worst, hopefully we tie if they go kick this, and we’re going to keep fighting and keep playing.’ But they did, they believed in each other and just kept going and we got the benefit of that last kick there.”
After the defense forced a three-and-out to start the game, Park City’s offense picked up where it left off from its 35-point effort last week and scored touchdowns on its first three drives. Senior Carson Tabaracci broke several tackles and then reeled off a 50-yard rushing touchdown. Tabaracci added another later in the quarter after Park City’s defense recovered an East (0-3, 0-1) fumble at the Leopards’ 20-yard line. The Miners led 14-0 after the opening quarter.
“Against an option team, you really want to get up early if you can, try to put them behind the sticks,” Montzingo said. “And that was huge for us physically, emotionally, mentally. And then like I said, just putting them behind the chains a little bit offensively helped us a lot.”
East’s triple-option offense slowly and methodically marched down the field right after the Park City touchdown before running back Amini Amone punched it in from seven yards out to cut the deficit in half.
Park City’s offense converted first downs in several crucial spots during the first half, none bigger than when quarterback Chase Beyer dropped back to pass, looked to his right and found junior Joseph Eldridge for 46 yards on a third-and-8. Two plays later, Eldridge’s leaping catch in the end zone over a defender restored the 14-point lead. East tacked on a field goal after a Park City stop in the red zone late in the half for a 21-10 score at halftime.
The two teams opened the second half with back-to-back punts, and when the Miners’ offense came back on the field, backup quarterback and linebacker Blake Tabaracci replaced Beyer as Park City’s signal-caller. He ran for 50 yards in four plays, and then Beyer came back in to deliver a quick pass to sophomore wide receiver Will McCurdy to get them within field goal range. The drive stalled at the East 13-yard line, and senior Stephen Shagen successfully split the uprights to put the Park City lead at 14 once again.
East’s offense came to life in the fourth quarter, as the Leopards scored a touchdown on a 51-yard touchdown pass to make it a one-possession game. Blake Tabaracci came back in to help the Miners’ running game chew up some more clock, but he turned the ball over on his third play of the drive at the East 28-yard line with under two minutes left. A 25-yard run on the first play of the drive and later a 30-yard pass helped set up what appeared to be East’s game-tying touchdown.
The blocked extra point made the home crowd at Dozier Field delirious, but it was only after Park City fell on the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock that it could truly celebrate the Miners’ first win of the season.
“I really feel good for our guys to feel like the fruits of their labor are paying off, that’s what I’m more excited about,” Montzingo said. “This is what we’ve been waiting for, this is everything. This is such a special night.”