The Mountain Ridge Sentinels had their way with the Wasatch Wasps on Thursday night in what turned out to be an offensive shootout, coming away with 51-33 victory.
Wasatch had absolutely no answer for Mountain Ridge’s dynamic duo of running backs Cade Uluave and Semisi Kinikini. Uluave rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns, while Kinikini rushed for 224 yards and found the end zone twice.
“Both of those guys are definitely special players. With the amount of work they put in tonight, they just took the game over,” said Mountain Ridge head coach Mike Meifu.
“It’s a credit to their work. They’ve been doing this a long time. Cade has worked so hard, especially in the offseason, and so has Semisi.”
Wasatch was able to keep the game within reach for the better part of the night and went into halftime down just five with the score 24-19. The offensive fireworks started midway through the quarter when, in the span of just under a minute, the teams combined to 19 points on the board.
With 6:16 left in the half, Wasatch’s Carter Bucad scored on a 38-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Sven Tholstrom, but Mountain Ridge answered literally just seconds later when Uluave broke free and steamrolled his way 80 yards down field for the score.
Wasatch answered back pretty much immediately behind a 75-yard touchdown run by Chris Cook, his second of the night.
In the end however, it was Mountain Ridge’s star-studded backfield and offensive line that led the way, stopping at nothing to make sure they got the victory.
“Last week we really struggled as a team. The guys took ownership and the entire offensive line put in the work they needed to,” Meifu said. “It is definitely a blessing to be able to put out the two running backs that we do.”
While Mountain Ridge has a perfect record on the season so far, Meifu knows that it’s a long season and that it’s crucial to take it one game at a time.
“Really, we’re just looking at it like we’re 1-0,” he said. “All we are worried about is this game. We’ve been able to win in different ways and I’m proud of our team because they’re working really hard each week in things that we need to fix.
“We just have to stay focused because we know how quickly the tide can turn and it’s really just about taking it one game at a time.”
Despite the loss, Wasatch had some great performances as well. Chris Cook rushed for two scores while Tholstrom threw for three touchdowns, two of which went to receiver Crew Erickson.
Wasatch falls to 1-2 on the young season and will have another away game coming up against Pleasant Grove. Meanwhile, Mountain Ridge will look to stay perfect when it next faces Sky View.