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Two early turnovers put Stansbury in too big a hole

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Stansbury's quarterback Mitch Lindsay runs the ball down field against Mountain Crest in their class 4A semifinal game at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017.

A pair of turnovers in the first half put Stansbury behind the 8-ball in the Stallions’ Class 4A state semifinal against Mountain Crest on Thursday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Stansbury gained 177 yards in the first half but trailed 17-0 at the intermission before falling 17-7.

“Offensively we just couldn’t get going,” Stansbury quarterback Mitch Lindsay said. “We ended up shooting ourselves in the foot by fumbling the ball over, and those basic turnovers cost us the game.”

The Stallions renewed their commitment to the running game in the second half. They found the end zone late in the third quarter when Tavita Gagnier found the end zone from 5 yards out to cut Stansbury’s deficit to 17-7. The 11-play scoring drive covered 91 yards.

“We secured the ball a lot better in the second half, and we played with so much hear,” Lindsay said. “We never gave up and just did the best we could to stick with them.”

The Stallions put together another 11-play drive on their ensuing possession, but that ended with a missed field.

“In the first half, we put the ball on the ground too many times,” Stansbury coach Clint Christiansen said. “We saw some things and made some adjustments in the second half and were able to run the ball a lot better.”

Stansbury actually ended up outgaining Mountain Crest 336 to 320 total yards, but the 17-point hole at halftime proved too big for the Stallions to overcome.

Lindsay led Stansbury with 77 yards rushing, while Silas Young added 72.