SMITHFIELD — Sky View quarterback Braxton Godderidge threw four touchdowns as the Bobcats dismantled Maple Mountain 44-13 on Friday night for their first victory of the season.
"He did well," Sky View coach Craig Anhder said of his quarterback. "Braxton runs this offense like a master."
As dominant as Godderidge and the offense was, Sky View's defense was every bit as potent.
That was evident early on. The Bobcats forced Maple Mountain to a punt on only its fourth offensive play, and a fumbled snap gave Sky View the ball inside the 10-yard line for its first possesion.
A pair of incompletions on the ensuing possession forced the Bobcats to settle for a field goal to go up 3-0 with 10:18 left in the first quarter. The 22-yarder was kicker Zayden Clark's first of two in the half.
Godderidge hit senior wide receiver Logan Miller from 26 yards out to lengthen the score to 10-0 four minutes later.
Later, Godderidge hit sophomore receiver Alex McCrae from 15 yards to make it 24-0 with 6:54 left in the half.
Clark then drilled a 42-yard field goal before the half ended to make it 27-0.
"We were a little slow, really, in our offensive game to begin with," said Anhder. "We had big plays, but not any drives. We were able to get some sustained drives in the second quarter."
Gooderidge credited his team's defense for setting up the offense.
"The whole defense was incredible," Godderidge said. "They kept them scoreless all first half; that's exceptional. We can't ask anything better."
Not that everything was easy for the Bobcats.
Maple Mountain defensive back Canon Miner intercepted Godderidge twice inside the 5-yard line on nearly identical post routes in the first half.
"He's incredible," Godderidge said of Miner. "His coaches put a lot of trust in him. They were overloading the right side. They gave me trips on the left, and I underthrew them. He made a play. That's an incredible kid right there."
Maple Mountain couldn't do anything with those first-half turnovers, however.
Anhder said tough defense was key to his team's victory.
"Great defense gave us some great field position," he said. "I think our offensive line had a good game. They really battled hard."
Maple Mountain's first score came with 7:26 to go in the third quarter, as sophomore quarterback Jaren Hall hit junior receiver Jake Dixon on a 68-yard pass to make it 34-7.
Godderidge hit Miller three minutes later for the pair's second scoring connection to make it 41-7.
Miner sparked the Golden Eagles again in the fourth quarter with a 95-yard kickoff return, but Sky View ran the clock out to seal the victory, 44-13.
Tavin Stucki is a senior journalism student at Utah State University and editor in chief of The Utah Statesman, the Aggie campus newspaper. Twitter: @stuckiaggies