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SMITHFIELD — It had been nine years since Logan defeated Sky View in football.
That all changed Friday night.
Underneath an orange-lit moon — a byproduct of smoke encompassing the valley from the central Idaho wildfires — Logan had a fourth quarter to remember. The Grizzlies scored a go-ahead touchdown with 5:41 left in the game, and then intercepted junior Bobcats quarterback Carson Thatcher with 27 seconds to play to seal the 20-16 win and spoil Sky View's homecoming night.
"I'm jacked up right now," Logan coach Bart Bowen said. "Nothing better. These kids deserve it; they've worked so hard in the offseason. I don't think we've beat Sky View in 10 years; I don't know. It's been a long time coming, and to do it on their field on homecoming is huge."
It didn't take anything special to ruin the homecoming magic, just some simple smash-mouth football. The Grizzlies passed the ball just five times and opted instead to hand the ball off to sophomore Tytan Mason 37 times. And despite everyone in the stadium knowing who the ball was going to most of the night, Mason turned those carries into 172 yards and a touchdown.
The Logan defense then delivered. The Grizzlies limited Thatcher to just 17-of-34 passing for 179 yards, and forced two fourth-quarter interceptions.
"I felt like they outplayed us pretty much in every phase of the game," Sky View coach Chris Howell said. "They ran the ball and we couldn't stop the run. We moved the ball in between the 20s, but you don't get points for that. I felt like they did a great job bending and not breaking — know that the credit needs to go to Logan."
Sky View led 16-10 heading into the fourth quarter, thanks to junior Brevin Egbert, who shed two open field tackles and scampered to a 34-yard touchdown. On the following possession, the Bobcats held Logan to a field goal; then the Sky View offense proceeded to move the offense into Grizzlies territory and threatened to go up two scores.
Then everything changed.
As Logan brought a three-man rush, the two edge rushers broke down the pocket and rushed Thatcher into a pass that was snatched out of the air by senior defensive tackle Tilose Tupou with 10:54 left to play.
After returning the ball into Sky View territory, Logan quarterback Keeton Pond hit Mason on a designed draw play that he turned up field for a 21-yard gain near the goal line. Pond dove into the end zone on the next play to give the Grizzlies a 20-16 lead.
After the Grizzlies' defense forced a Sky View three-and-out series, Logan was forced to punt it back to the Bobcats, which gave the home team one last chance to produce some homecoming magic.
Thatcher found senior Kason Spackman on fourth-and-10 for a completion and moved the Bobcats into Logan territory. The Grizzlies made the last big play, though, as sophomore Brock Brown swooped in from coverage for the game-winning interception.
Logan defeats Sky View 20-16. Here was the game sealing interception with 27 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/GIW5lmYnqo
— Jacob Nielson (@Jacobnielson12) September 10, 2022
"Coach told me what to do. I read my keys, I did my assignment, and we got it done," Brown said.
"Defensively, we make adjustments better than anybody in the state," Bowen added. "We make adjustments, we fix it, we go out and we finish games. So proud of that defensive effort."
Logan improves to 3-2 on the year and continues Region 11 play at home against Bear River next week; Sky View falls to 1-4 and travels to Ridgeline.
