Tana Vea only had only one thing on his mind as he jogged back to the Juan Diego sideline after his second touchdown in the Soaring Eagle's 28-3 second-round playoff win over Cedar City. After all the congratulations and chest-bumping from his teammates and coaching staff subsided, he hunted down his head coach, John Colosimo, and asked the one question that had been killing him all week.

"Is that hard enough coach?"

With a slight nod of the head, Vea was back.

After a meager 30 yards on 12 carries against Juab in the Soaring Eagle's first-round win, Vea came into Friday night with something to prove. With a week's full of ridicule and nicknames like Tuna and Galloping Ghost, Vea silenced the teasing as he rushed for 147 yards on only 14 carries and two touchdowns to advance Juan Diego through the ground.

"Tana wanted to play real hard." Juan Diego head coach John Colosimo said. "He was disappointed in his game last week and all week long he was telling me, 'Coach, I'm going to come out and really run hard."

Juan Diego quarterback Cody Stevenson struggled to finish 3-for-8 through the air for 20 yards and coughed up two fumbles, which in turn gave Vea his shot at redemption. Playing with amazing field position consistently from the Soaring Eagle's defense forcing five turnovers, Vea accounted for 71 percent of Juan Diego's total yardage and finally got himself out of the doghouse.

"It feels great just to have coaches

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on my side again," Vea said, "All week they where calling me bad nicknames and stuff. It got me frustrated and I knew I had to come out this game and show them that's not my name. Coach [Colosimo] is a really good coach, and to get recognized by him is such a big honor."

Storylines

Running back Tana Vae accounts for 71 percent of the Saoring Eagle's total yardage with 147 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns.

» Juan Diego's defense forced five turnovers.