(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) Juab Macray Stevens leaps for yardage during second half play. Juan Diego beat Juab 33-28, Friday, October 6, 2017.
Draper • As the Juan Diego offense ran off the field, coach John Colosimo had just three words for kicker Alex Saunders: “Extra point, baby.”
Indeed, Saunders set up in almost the exact spot he would for an extra point with 7 seconds on the clock and the game tied. His 26-yard field goal gave the Soaring Eagle the lead en route to a 33-28 home field win Friday night.
“I’m happy to get that one out of the way,” Colosimo said. “Juab is a really good football team, well coached, they always give us a battle. And it was fun.”
Juan Diego (7-1, 4-0 in region) clinched at least a tie for the Class 3A South title with the win. Juab (5-3, 3-1) ended its four-game winning streak and suffered its first region loss.
Friday was the second time this season that Saunders kicked a last-minute game-winning field goal. The first, a 33-yarder, secured a 23-22 win at Skyline on Sept. 1.
JUAN DIEGO 33, JUAB 28 <br>• Juan Diego guarantees itself at least a tie for first in the Class 3A South with the win. <br>• Soaring Eagle kicker Alex Saunders makes his second last-minute game-winning field goal of the season. <br>• Juab’s winning streak ends at four games.
But this time was a little different.
“I was kind of struggling all night,” Saunders said. “And I just wanted to come up big for my team and get the win.”
He had been battling a minor thigh injury all night, which twinged every time he swung his leg.
He came up short on two missed two long field-goal attempts earlier in the game. His kickoffs, which usually sail into the end zone, also tailed off early all night.
Yet as he jogged onto the field with seconds on the clock, he oddly was calm. It was essentially an extra point, and he already had made four of those.
Once Saunder’s field goal flew true, all he had to do was squib the kickoff.
The Soaring Eagle got more than they bargained for on that play.
The Wasps kept the play alive as long as they could with a series of laterals, (and a forward pass for which a penalty was called but declined). They ended up in the end zone, and Juan Diego scored a safety to add another two points to the final margin.
The Soaring Eagle jumped out to a 21-6 first-half lead with a touchdown carry by quarterback Zach Hoffman and two by running back Tristen Tonozzi. Juab scored on Dallan West’s 15-yard run, but a tipped field-goal attempt went wide.
The Wasps made a comeback in the second half when Alex White made his way into the end zone twice, and Macray Stevens caught a 19-yard touchdown pass.