Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LOGAN — Region 11 devolved into a hodge podge of parity and surprising results through the first two weeks of play as each team went 1-1 — every team earned a transitive victory over another.
Week 3 only added to the unexpectedness.
A day after Ridgeline edged out Green Canyon 21-14, Mountain Crest (4-3) traveled to Logan (3-4) for an anticipated tightly contested battle.
It did not turn out that way, however.
Mountain Crest hammered Logan 38-7 in a decisive win to improve to 2-1 in region play for a three-way tie for first place. The Grizzlies fell to 1-2 in region play, a three-way tie for fourth place.
The only true home game of the season for Logan — due to track renovations, the majority of its games have been played elsewhere — the packed house of maroon- and yellow-clad fans had its homecoming night spoiled by Mountain Crest's effort on both sides of the ball.
The Mustangs defense, which has been stout all year, held rush-heavy Logan to just 114 yards of offense, returned a fumble for a touchdown, and returned an interception inside the Grizzlies' 5-yard line.
Mountain Crest's offense, which has not scored more than 14 points since the season opener, went the length of the field on its first drive of the game, capitalized on plenty of short field drives, and totaled 244 total yards of offense.
Junior quarterback Casey Crofts was 7-of-14 passing for 137 yards and one rushing touchdown; four other Mustangs had rushing touchdowns.
Under first-year coach Ryan Visser, the performance was a massive step in the right direction for the school.
"Honestly, in a weird way, it's almost like we were afraid to take the step and be great," Visser said. "And I'm like, 'Hey, it's time. Let's try and put it all together.' And they did. ... We're proud of the boys."
"It's great for us," senior Brayden Tannihill said. "I feel bad, homecoming is something really rough to lose, and especially since, I don't know if this is true or not but this is their only home game because they're getting the track redone. So I mean, I feel bad for that, but it feels good to win."
With Mountain Crest leading 14-0 late in the first half, things went from bad to worse for Logan quickly. Junior quarterback Keaton Pond was picked off by junior Thatcher Phelps, who nearly had the pick-six touchdown; Crofts rushed in for the 4-yard touchdown moments later.
Trailing 24-0 in the third quarter, Pond failed to reel in a poorly snapped ball and the Mustangs defense, which managed to bring pressure all night, immediately pounced. Tannihill picked up the ball and ran in for a 30-yard touchdown to extend Mountain Crest's lead and to give the Mustangs its highest point total of the season.
"I was giving a bunch of crap (to) my other teammates because they were right behind me — they're sort of jealous," Tannihill said. "But I just picked it up and scored, you know?"
Logan's meltdown continued on the ensuing kickoff when the kick returner fumbled the return and Mountain Crest recovered. Senior Carson Olsen scored on a 1-yard rushing touchdown to extend the lead to 38-0.
Minus a botched punt, which resulted in a short field, and touchdown for Logan in the fourth quarter, it was a near flawless effort by the visitors from Hyrum.
"They played it for purpose," Visser said. "And it was awesome."
Logan travels to Green Canyon next Friday; Mountain Crest visits Sky View.
