GRANTSVILLE — Juan Diego used a pair of strong performances the from running back tandem of Zach Kinniger finding the endzone and Tyler Morales cutting up yardage in the middle of the field as Juan Diego was able to run away with a 27-6 victory over Grantsville.
Soaring Eagle quarterback Corey Lever called Kinniger's number on three different occasions inside the ten yard line during the first half and then capped off the amazing evening with a 87-yard kickoff return to start the second half to help Juan Diego coast to victory.
Things started badly for Grantsville right from the opening kickoff. Waiting to receive the opening kick Grantsville had a low squib kick bounce off the leg of one its players right into the arms of Juan Diego kicking team. From there Kinniger had a 19-yard run to get deep into Grantsville territory and was able to run in a three-yard score up the middle to put the Soaring Eagle ahead 7-0.
In the second quarter Morales had big runs for 26 and 23 yards in the same drive for Juan Diego as Kinniger was able to capitalize again in the red zone for his second touchdown to put the Soaring Eagle up 14-0.
The stingy defense of Juan Diego was able to shut down the Cowboys and keep them on the wrong side of the field on offense for most of the first half and set up another scoring opportunity before half-time. After having success running the ball mainly up the middle Juan Diego started running plays to the outside with pitches and a few option plays.
The change worked to perfection Kinniger again took up a big chunk of yardage with a 23 yard jolt. Brayden Dimond took a pitch from Lever for 17 yards on the drive that was capped off again by Kinniger from 5 yards out to send Grantsville into the locker room down by 20 points.
Any hopes for a second half comeback for Grantsville were dashed by Kinniger as he took the ensuing kickoff 87 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.
"I give the credit to my blockers on the return team for opening up that big hole to run through," said Kinniger.
From there Juan Diego relied on their defense to shut down the Cowboys to coast to victory.
Morales finished with 96 yards on 15 carries and Kinniger ended up with 76 yards on the ground to compliment his three touchdowns from the Soaring Eagle backfield.
Grantsville was finally able to punch one in the end zone as Michael LeBeau scored from five yards out with just under a minute to play but by then the game was already decided in this one sided affair.
"Our mistakes killed us," said Grantsville Coach Tony Cloward. "We digged ourselves too big a hole for a running team to give yards away on penalties like we did tonight."