LEHI — One of the signs of a really good football team is the ability to win with ease even when you are not playing very well.
If Friday night's game is any indication, the Lehi Pioneers are on the way to becoming a legitimate 3A contender. Turnovers, mistakes and poor execution hampered the Pioneers on offense for most of the evening, but the team still coasted to a 35-0 Region 8 victory over the visiting Carbon Dinos.
"Offensively, we didn't take advantage of some situations, but we did enough to get the job done," Lehi coach Joe Hayes said. "It wasn't pretty, but it was a win and that is what's important."
Even though Lehi did struggle on offense at times against the Dinos,they had no trouble scoring early. After blocking a Carbon punt less than two minutes into the game, Lehi's Anthony Turchetta scampered in from 10 yards on the ensuing play to give the Pioneers a 7-0 lead.
Bad special teams execution would plague the Dinos all night. Carbon lost starting punter Justin Blackham to a broken arm last week against Delta. His replacement performed admirably, but struggled mightily to get the ball off against the Lehi rush.
Five Carbon turnovers also compounded the Dino's troubles. The aforementioned mistakes resulted in excellent field position for Lehi all evening. When Lehi was able to put points on the scoreboard, it was usually the result of Turchetta's running.
In addition to his initial strike, Turchetta scored two other touchdowns on the ground. He also caught an 18 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Justin Hadfield.
All in all, Turchetta finished 133 rushing yards on 17 attempts.
"Anthony is an outstanding running back," Hayes said. "I was glad tosee him have a good night tonight."
While his offense did struggle at times against Carbon, Haye's defense was simply outstanding. In addition to the shutout, the team allowed just one first down in the first three quarters of play.
"Our defense has kept us in a lot of games this year," Turchetta said. "Our defense was dominant."
The win moved Lehi to 4-3 on the season, and 2-1 in Region play. Theteam will play for the Region 8 title next week when they travel toDelta, who is undefeated in region play.
"It's do or die for us," Hayes said. "We have a great opportunity infront of us. We want to play well in that game and get a win.
FOOTBALL
REGION 1
CLEARFIELD 28, VIEWMONT 7: The third-ranked Falcons jumped out to an early lead and never really let the Vikings into the Region 1 game. Blake Parkinson threw three touchdown passes in the win.
DAVIS 34, LAYTON 14:
REGION 4
BOX ELDER 49, ROY 3: The No. 1-ranked Bees jumped out to a big halftime lead to thump the Royals. Bo Herbert rushed 12 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Andy Davis rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns and passed for two more.
BONNEVILLE 20, SKY VIEW 2: The No. 4-ranked Lakers upended the Bobcats to remain unbeaten in region play.
LOGAN 35, MOUNTAIN CREST 17:Roger Ellis scored three touchdowns — two on receptions and one on a 50-yard return of a fumbled lateral — for the Grizzlies. Mark Watterson and Tanner Hunsaker linked up for two TD passes for the Mustangs.
REGION 5
BOUNTIFUL 24, EAST 6: The Braves upset the Leopards, scoring twice on the ground.
HIGHLAND 34, OLYMPUS 25: The Rams earned a win over region rival Olympus.
WEST 10, WOODS CROSS 0: The Panthers earned a win and a shutout with a strong defensive effort.
CYPRUS 26, MURRAY 13:Daryl Brown rushed for 180 yards and a touchdown, Carl Pulou added another 101 yards and a TD, and QB QB Matt Perea tossed a pair of scoring strikes in the Pirates' victory.
REGION 9
SNOW CANYON 46, HURRICANE 12: Snow Canyon scored on the ground four times to defeat Hurricane and improve to 6-1 overall on the season.
DIXIE 30, CANYON VIEW 20: The Flyers defeated Canyon View with solid, steady offense.
CEDAR 22, PINE VIEW 20 (OT): The winless Redmen pulled the ultimate upset to stun the top-ranked Panthers. Cedar led 14-0 with four minutes remaining in the game. Pine View scored to trail 14-7. Then on 4th and 27, with less than 20 seconds remaining, Jason Anderson hooked up with Devin Graff on a 30-yard scoring strike to even the score and send the game to overtime. In overtime, the Redmen scored first, adding a two-point coversion and stopped the Panthers on Pine View's own two-point try to claim their first win of the season.
REGION 10
UINTAH 42, UNION 28: Union's Braden Robison rumbled into the end zone twice on the ground as the Cougars pound Region 10 foe Uintah.
PARK CITY 24, JUDGE MEMORIAL 7:Mike Corollo threw for three touchdowns against the Bulldogs, leading the Miners to the Region 10 victory. They remain unbeaten in region play. Samui Tuifua rushed for 125 yards and one touchdown in the loss.
WASATCH 28, GRANITE 0:Garrett Brown scored twice on the ground to shut out the Farmers as Wasatch takes the region win.
REGION 11
BEAR RIVER 56, TOOELE 0:Ricky Archibald and Jason Zundel led Bear River's attack, scoring twice each, as the Bears shut out the Buffaloes.
MORGAN 38, OGDEN 0: The Trojans jumped out to a 31-0 halftime lead and cruised to victory over the Tigers.
2A NORTH
MANTI 21, SOUTH SUMMIT 6: The Templars had 158 yards rushing as they stay undefeated in Region 2 and overall.
JUAB 32, GUNNISON 15:Colby Park rushed for 170 yards and three touchdowns while passing for 144 yards and two scores to lead the Wasps to a victory over the Bulldogs.
JUAN DIEGO 49, GRAND 12: The Soaring Eagle utilized Terrel Bell on the ground, scoring three times as Juan Diego remains atop 2A North.
2A SOUTH
MILLARD 36, KANAB 8:Ethan Stephenson accounted for five touchdowns — two rushing, two passing and one interception return — as the second-ranked Eagles crushed the fourth-ranked Cowboys. Both teams were 6-0 entering the game.
SAN JUAN 38, RICHFIELD 8: The 5th ranked Broncos' backfiedld duo of Kevin Kirk and Chavis Holliday led them to victory over the Wildcats. Holliday had 136 yards on six carries and a touchdown while Kirk added 94 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns.
BEAVER 31, SOUTH SEVIER 7:Luke Beaumont rushed for 126 yards and two TDs, passed for 104 yards and two TDs and intercepted a pass on defense to lead the Beavers to a victory over the Rams.
1A CENTRAL
MONTICELLO 25, PAROWAN 10: The top-ranked Buckaroos defeated the fourth-ranked Rams behind the play of backfield duo Chad Christensen and Casen Eldredge. Christensen had 199 yards on 14 carries with two rushing TDs and caught a touchdown pass. Eldredge added 124 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown.
1A SOUTH
DUCHESNE 14, MILFORD 12:Landon Despain rushed for 207 yards, including a 99-yard touchdown run, and Duchesne forced five turnovers to get the win against Milford.
ENTERPRISE 28, ALTAMONT 0: The No. 2-ranked Wolves came away with a big road victory over the No. 3 Long Horn and improved to 6-1 with the win.
NONREGION
RICH 40, WHITEHORSE 6: The fifth-ranked Rebels took the road to ramble over the Raiders.
LONE PEAK 35, WEBER 0:Michael Jensen and Aryan Fard found each other three times in the end zone to blank the Warriors.
NORTH SUMMIT 32, NORTH SEVIER 19: The Braves used a vicious ground attack, racking up 364 yards, to defeat the winless Wolves.