HURRICANE — One player, who already has made a prep football name for himself, was a force that was slowed at times but never truly stopped.
On the other side of the field, the same could be said of a player new to a starting role this season, but the only difference was that Hurricane quarterback Tim Long grabbed the limelight for the first time and wouldn't let go.
All Long did was run and pass the Tigers to a 24-19 victory over visiting Delta Friday night in an early season 3A showdown.
"I felt a lot more comfortable and confident tonight," said Long, who completed 8-of-9 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown, and added a long scoring run in the third quarter that was the eventual margin of victory.
On the other side of the ball, Delta's Derek Peterson scored on runs of 12 and three yards and had another stadium mesmerized with his quickness, speed and power that belies his 5'7" stature, but it was his extra effort trying to score his third touchdown of the night that turned the game in Hurricane's favor.
Trailing 17-13 at the half, Delta took the second half kickoff and marched 77 yards in 13 plays down to the Tigers' three.
Unfortunately, Peterson fumbled the ball into the end zone on the 14th play.
Then it was Long's turn, hitting on two crucial passes to move the Tigers downfield, and on the play following his only incompletion of the night, the quarterback used a great block by Jacob Stout to race 39 yards for what turned in to the game winner.
"Tim is a great athlete, and one of his strengths is turn nothing into something big," Hurricane head coach Chris Homer said of the senior
The Tigers had an outstanding running back last season. But this year, Homer's committee of running backs seem to be filling the void nicely.
Jarom Healy had a big first half, scoring the Tigers' first touchdown. Robert Reeve showed a nice balance of speed and power in the second half and 2008 holdovers Zach Sorenson, Jacob Pugh and Long chipped in nicely as Hurricane rushed for 166 yards.
Defensively, the Tigers limited Delta to 300 yards of total offense, with Homer singling out Jaden Seely, Ian Gates and Diamonte Hubbard for their efforts.
Delta got to within 24-19 in the game's closing seconds on a spectacular catch by Darin Dutson from older brother Joey, but the Tigers recovered an onside kick to put the game away.