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OGDEN — The South Summit Wildcats have a chance to avenge their 33-0 blowout loss to Beaver in last year's 2A state championship game after beating San Juan 38-21 Thursday afternoon at Weber State's Stewart Stadium.
The Wildcats relied on their athleticism to overcome the bigger, more physical Broncos Thursday in what was a much-hyped matchup.
"We knew that we could out-athlete them," said junior wide receiver Keegan Stracher. "We just wanted to throw the ball, with them being bigger than us. We didn't think we could run it, but I guess we did both today."
Senior quarterback Nick Beasley, back after missing last week's quarterfinal matchup against Enterprise with a back injury, was fantastic, throwing for two touchdowns and a ton of yards. San Juan simply had no answer for him nor the terrific group of athletes around him, consisting mainly of receivers Stracher, Parker Grajek, Brandon Dansie, Cole Reidhead and running back Riley Bayles, who rushed for two touchdowns.
"We knew we had to do some things that we hadn't done before," said South Summit head coach Mike Grajek. "We throw a lot of fades, but we did an out route that went for 80 yards, and then Bayles — he played out of his head. We've been telling him all year he's one of the best backs, but we haven't had to show it, and he showed it today. He's unbelievable."
Bayles indeed played well, but the play of the game came on a South Summit fourth down from their own 2-yard line. San Juan was ahead 14-7, and with momentum on its side, looked set to stop the Wildcats. But then Beasley lofted a fade route to Grajek, who pinned the ball one-handed to his helmet before getting his foot inbounds to score the touchdown, a catch that looked like a cross of Odell Beckham Jr.'s famous grab and David Tyree's incredible play in Super Bowl XLII.
After being tied 21-21 at halftime, South Summit managed to pitch a second half shutout, outscoring San Juan 17-0 while riding a strong defensive effort that included five interceptions on the day.
"Our defense played out of their head," Coach Grajek said.
San Juan did its part to make sure it wasn't a cake walk, as do-it-all senior Jordan Blake had a hand in each of the Broncos' touchdowns, throwing one, catching another and scoring on an 85-yard interception return.
South Summit's championship bout with Beaver will be a different story than last year if Coach Grajek has anything to say about it.
"Last year I felt like we came out with big heads," Parker Grajek said. "This year we have to keep our cool and play our game. If we come out and do what we can do, it'll be a battle and we can come out on top."
Beaver 35, Summit Academy 14 — At Weber State, Jordan Hardy rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns, and the Beavers scored 29 unanswered points to pull away from the Bears and book a spot in the finals.
Dillon Smith had 72 yards and two touchdowns for the Beavers, who advanced to the state championship against South Summit for the second-straight year.
Stephen Lindsey is a student at the University of Utah currently working as an intern with KSL.com in Salt Lake City. Contact him at th3sl3@gmail.com or interact via his twitter handle, @slthe3
