PARK CITY — Forget the shovels and pickaxes, the Park City Miners went to work with nothing but offensive dynamite Friday night in an explosive 60-30 win over Mountain View.
Do-it-all weapon Carson Tabaracci scored on five occasions and wide receiver Trond Grizzell added two more long touchdowns to leave no doubt that Park City is in command of Region 10.
“I have a ton of faith in our offense,” Park City coach Josh Montzingo said. “They’ve been super consistent all year, and I absolutely believed they could do this, 100%.”
Park City struck quickly for an early two-score lead and never relinquished the breathing room. Quarterback Chase Beyer capped off the Miners’ opening drive with a 2-yard keeper dive. Mountain View botched the first snap in its ensuing offensive drive, leading to a short field for the Miners and a 3-yard barreling rushing score from Tabaracci to put Park City up 12-0.
“We kind of have the embarrassment of riches, but I’ll be honest with you, he played out of his mind tonight,” Montzingo said of Tabaracci’s effort.
Mountain View’s quick-tempo offense responded immediately with a seven-play drive highlighted by quarterback Jackson McCarty finding wide receiver Connor Kindrick in the left flat, who took it the rest of the way for a 39-yard touchdown.
Tabaracci found pay dirt again with a 28-yard catch in the left corner of the end zone from Beyer — who accounted for four touchdowns on the night — to make it 18-7.
“We spread the ball around a bunch, and I guess I just got it a bunch tonight,” Tabaracci said. “It happens.”
Mountain View turned on the jets again in response, marching down the field for an eight-play drive capped with a McCarty toss to wide receiver Jett Anderson for a 9-yard score to make it 18-14. Then, Grizzell stepped in.
Grizzell adjusted a deep route and plucked an arcing 45-yard pass from Beyer to score his first touchdown to give Park City a 25-14 lead before halftime. After Mountain View’s Ivan Cueva made a field goal, a Tabaracci score from a yard out and an 11-yard Mountain View touchdown, Grizzell took a rumbling 74-yard catch-and-run score down the left sideline in the third quarter to give the Miners a comfortable 39-24 cushion.
From there, Park City’s defense came up with fourth down stops, a handful of sacks and generated punts to go along with three more Tabaracci touchdowns, holding Mountain View down until a score in the last gasps of the game.
Now in the driver’s seat in Region 10, Montzingo isn’t looking too far ahead as the home stretch of the season approaches.
“We’ve just got to keep taking care of Park City,” Montzingo said. “We’ve got to make sure we do all the little things each and every day, step by step, to make sure we aren’t looking too far ahead and trip on something.”