That's a big team, a strong team over there. Football really is a game of momentum and they had it the second half. But just a couple of little plays in overtime changed it back in our favor. – Pine View coach Ray Hosner
ST. GEORGE — Kobe Topalian put an exclamation point on a very strange game with a 25-yard touchdown run in the second overtime as Pine View beat Judge Memorial 30-24 on Friday night.
The Panthers led 24-0 late in the first half and looked like the superior team. But Judge owned the second half to make the comeback and force extra periods.
“That's a big team, a strong team over there,” Pine View coach Ray Hosner said. “Football really is a game of momentum and they had it the second half. But just a couple of little plays in overtime changed it back in our favor.”
The first was a partially blocked field goal by Tyler Heaton. Pine View had failed to score in the first overtime, leaving the door wide open for Judge to win it.
Bulldog kicker Tim Hemmersmeier had made a 50-yard field goal earlier in the game, so it looked as if Judge was going to win when he lined up to kick a 35-yarder in OT. But Heaton split the blockers and deflected the ball to the right, well wide of the uprights.
“Tyler blocked one earlier in the game, so I knew he could get another one,” Pine View's Dillon Robertson said. “Sure enough, he got a big hand in there and made sure we could keep playing.”
A fumble on Judge's offensive possession in the second overtime set up the same scenario, only this time for the Panthers.
But instead of a field goal, Topalian took a shotgun handoff, broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and then cut right and went untouched to the end zone to end the game.
“It's all a blur,” Topalian said. “I hardly remember. I felt a guy on my right at the line, but when I shook him off, I saw a big hole on the right and took off and my teammates blocked everyone else.”
Early in the game, it seemed a blowout was in order. Riley Livingston connected on TD passes to Mason Wiley and Lance Mandrigues and Topalian had a short TD run. After a Connor Brooksby field goal, PV led 24-0 20 minutes into the game.
But the Bulldogs made a switch at quarterback, bringing in Sam Garcia to spell Kelsin Pupunu. The change ignited the Judge squad.
Garcia led the Bulldogs on a 78-yard drive and found Bapa Falemaka with a 12-yard TD pass to make it 24-7 with 16 seconds to go in the first half.
The momentum swing continued after intermission as Judge kept Pine View pinned on defense and moved the ball on offense. A 50-yard field goal by Hemmersmeier cut it to 24-10 19 seconds into the fourth quarter and another Garcia-to-Falemaka TD pass (this time 38 yards) made it 24-17 with 7:51 left in the game.
After yet another Pine View punt, the Bulldogs tied the game on another Garcia-Falemaka hookup (16 yards) with 1:46 to play. That set up the overtime periods.
Falemaka finished with 89 yards receiving and the three TDs while Mandrigues had 98 receiving yards for Pine View.
Judge outgained Pine View 285-244 but had four turnovers to Pine View's one.
Andy Griffin is a southern Utah broadcaster and sports writer and has been involved in covering sports in Utah, including professional, college and high school sports, since 1989. Andy is the sports editor at STGNews.com.