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DAVIS, Calif. — Brad Sorensen completed 30-of-36 passes for 397 yards and a school record-tying five touchdowns Saturday to propel Southern Utah to a 55-24 win over UC Davis and the Thunderbirds' first Great West Conference championship.
"Brad was so hot and the receivers were playing so well and catching balls," SUU coach Ed Lamb said. "He's been on an unbelievable streak. I credit his development with the coaches continuing to work with him, and his humility. Like I said at the beginning of the season, I think he has the best physical tools in the state, and probably a lot wider range than that."
Southern Utah improved to 5-4 overall and finished its Great West season with a perfect 4-0 mark. It is the first outright football championship for the Thunderbirds in the school's four-year GWC history and its first since the team shared the American West Conference title with UC Davis back in 1993.
The Thunderbirds were jump-started by Blake Fenn's 73-yard interception return early in the game, then methodically pulled away, scoring on all but one possession in the first half. The T-birds kept up their efficiency in the second half, as they wound up scoring on nine of 11 possessions and did not turn the ball over.UC Davis drove to the SUU 32 on the opening drive of the game but Fenn stepped in front of a Randy Wright pass at the SUU 27 and, with Colin Pretlow leading the way, returned it for a touchdown. It was SUU's second interception return for a touchdown of the season and the longest since Ryan Smith returned one 80 yards against Morehead State in 2000.
SUU added three points on a 38-yard Brock Miller field goal before the Aggies got on the board with a 44-yard pass from Wright to Sean Creadick. The Thunderbirds pulled away in the second period, however, with Sorensen sandwiching an 18-yard TD pass to Tysson Poots and an 11-yard scoring strike to Fesi Sitake around a 36-yard Aggie field goal by Sean Kelley. After forcing a UC Davis punt with 1:46 to play, the Thunderbirds pushed their advantage to 31-10 when Sorensen followed his center from less than a yard out for a touchdown.
Big plays played a big part of the first half for the Thunderbirds. In addition to the interception return. they also got a 31-yard run from Austin Minefee that set up the Sitake touchdown, and a 50-yard pass from Sorensen to Daryl Brown to set up Sorensen's.
SUU kept its foot on the pedal in the second half, as Sorensen found Sitake again, this time on a 7-yard third-quarter TD pass, and Poots twice, one from 13 yards out and the second from 42.
Meanwhile the SUU defense was limiting UC Davis' potent offense, and although the Aggies finished with 445 total yards and 24 points, Lamb said he was pleased with the effort.
In the second half "it was never in doubt, and UC Davis chose to make it a game like that," Lamb noted. "They just kept blitzing us, so instead of being able to run the ball and run the clock UC Davis had too many defenders in the box so we kept throwing it, we don't take time off the clock, the defense keeps going out there ... in the end to give up 24 points with that much time on the field (33:33) I'm proud of our defensive effort, it was a total team effort.
"I'm so happy for the guys and all the work they've put in," Lamb said. "We started 1-4 and when that happens you can start to doubt your coaches, you can start to doubt your teammates and our ability to get it done. But we never did that, we just kept working. The administration saw this coming long before the players did, the coaches saw this coming and the players just hung in there. That was really the only question mark, would they hang in there, because everything was getting so much better and they made it happen, they made the plays tonight."
Tysson Poots wound up with 12 catches for 191 yards and three touchdowns for SUU. while Austin Minefee and Sitake each had seven receptions, for 75 and 63 yards, respectively. Minefee also carried 12 times for 72 yards.
Wright completed 22-of-35 passes for 278 yards and a score but was sacked four times, one each by Marlon Hogains, Jeff Tukuafu, Tyler Osborne and Trent Barney. Hogains led the team with nine tackles, all solo, while Fenn and Dion Turner each had eight tackles.
SNOW 47, PIMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE 11: At Ephraim, No. 17-ranked Snow College (7-2, 6-1) shook off a sluggish first-half performance and coasted to victory to stay alive for the conference championship.
Snow used a strong second half as it put up 37 points and was led by backup quarterback Colter Smith. Smith was put in by the coaches in the second half and he went 3-for-6 for 36 yards, threw two touchdown passes and also added a rushing touchdown.
"He was selected by the team to be a team captain," said Snow head coach Steve Coburn. "He's always been focused on what he's been doing."
"Hard work goes a long way is about all I can say," said Smith. "There are a lot of good athletes on this team, and sometimes you get a shot and sometimes you get a shot taken away from you."
Snow drove down the field on the first drive of the game and scored a touchdown off a five-yard pass from starting quarterback Adam Eastman to tightend Gage Lofton. Snow struggled offensively the rest of the half as it only held a 10-7 lead.
The Badgers responded in the second half as the defense forced five turnovers in all, with four of those being interceptions. Those turnovers gave the Badgers a short field and the Badgers scored 7-of-8 times when in the red zone.
"It all starts on Monday," said linebacker Brayden Stembridge (South Summit High School), who finished with three solo tackles. "We practiced all week and prepared for our assignment and it showed."
"We've shown before that we're resilient and that we can come back in the second half," said Smith. "We came out and played like we should have in the first half, in the second half."
The Badgers were coming off a loss to No. 6-ranked Arizona Western on Oct. 23, which moved them into a three-way tie for the conference championship. With Saturday's win, Snow remained in the race for the coveted conference crown.
"Our goal every week is to take care of us," said Coburn. "For us to get better and play at the expectation level we set for ourselves."
Snow's final conference game is on the road against Phoenix and, with a win, the Badgers can guarantee themselves another conference championship.
Notes: Running back Muka Atiga made his first start since Sept. 25 when he suffered a high ankle sprain against New Mexico Military. He had 12 carries for 75 yards and also added a touchdown run.