Garrett Faylor
For The Spectrum & The Daily News
| HURRICANE - Will the undefeated Hurricane Tigers finally claw their way to a state title?
Possibly.
One thing is absolutely certain: Juan Diego will not be able to stop them.
The announcement of Juan Diego's loss came over the loudspeaker during halftime of Friday night's second-round 3A state playoff contest between the Tigers and the Grantsville Cowboys at Tiger Stadium. A cheerful roar rose from the sea of red and black packed into the home stands.
Hurricane came out of the gates fierce and dominated both sides of the football. They executed the run masterfully, tallying five rushing touchdowns and 313 yards on the ground in Friday night's 41-0 romp over the Cowboys in the 3A quarterfinals, getting them one step closer to that ever-elusive title.
Senior quarterback Taylor Parker was only 4-of-7 for 76 yards through the air. Over the rest of the night, Parker spent most of the night sitting back and watching his running backs do their thing.
"It starts with the line, they make the holes. They're pulling and making good holes for the backs," Parker said. "The running backs did a good job of reading those holes."
One back in particular, Weston Yardley, found the end zone three times, averaging 10.7 yards on seven carries.
"My line did a great job of getting me into a position to score some touchdowns. I have to give credit to them," said Yardley.
Yardley started Hurricane off early in the first quarter with a seven-yard touchdown run, after the Tigers defense forced the Cowboys into a quick three-and-out.
After that, it was off to the races.
Hurricane converted a pick by Cameron Hatanaka into a seven-yard touchdown run from junior Adam Thompson for a 14-0 lead after a quarter. The Tigers' defense held off a 14-play drive, resulting in a turnover on downs, and quickly capitalized for an 11-yard score from senior running back Brian Scott.
"We just all did our jobs tonight, and we executed well," said Parker. "We trust each other and everyone does their jobs. That's pretty much it."
Perhaps Weston Yardley's job description reads "be everywhere at all times."
Not only did Yardley find the end zone twice more in the third quarter on runs of 37 and 7 yards, he also grabbed two interceptions in the first half, one of which led to a five-yard score, Thompson's second.
"I'm happy with both," Yardley said about his performances on both sides of the ball. "I've gone quite a few games without a pick, so I'm pretty happy about that."
The senior also returned the only Grantsville kickoff for 45 yards.
Although Hurricane head coach Chris Homer admitted that he'd started to plan for Juan Diego, he's not disappointed the two teams won't meet up for a fourth straight showdown.
When asked about a possibility of two Southern Utah teams competing for a title, Homer responded, "If we can take care of business, we know that there will at least be one Region 9 team in the championship, but Spanish (Fork) is good, and that's all I care about right now."
Hurricane will face off against Spanish Fork on Thursday in the 3A state semifinals at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
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