Eagles Offense Is Too Much for Murray
By Bruce Smith
For The Deseret News
MURRAY – The Skyline Eagles made sure they were
headed into next week’s 5A playoffs. They didn’t leave any
room for doubt.
The Eagles’ offense was unstoppable Friday night, scoring
each time it had the ball in the first half, and blew past
Murray 59-35 in a Region 2 game.
Quarterback Chase Dunford rushed for 87 yards, and led
’s triple-option attack that netted 338 yards rushing. The
Eagles broke the game open with a 28-point second quarter
and let the reserves play in the second half.
“We were anxious to play this game so we could avoid a
play-in game,” said Skyline coach Roger Dupaix. “We
wanted to get off to a good start. Our kids played well. We
had good precision tonight.”
With the victory, Skyline secured a spot in the 5A playoffs for
the 24th consecutive year. The Eagles finished the
regular season with a 7-3 overall mark, and 4-2 in region,
which is good enough to earn the No. 3 seed. Skyline will
play at Syracuse next week in the first round of the 5A
playoffs.
Murray coach Dan Aragon acknowledged that his team
could have forced a tiebreaker with a win. But the Spartans
had no answer for Dunford or Skyline running back Algernon
Brown, who ran for 65 yards on just four carries, and
caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Dunford.
“Offensively, they (the Eagles) were the most complete team
we played all year,” said Aragon, whose club finished its
best season since 2006 with a 3-6 overall mark. “We hope
to be like that one day.”
Dee Hamala gave the Spartans a chance. The shifty Murray
quarterback was a threat both running and passing. He was
involved in almost every play, rushing 18 times for 67 yards.
He also completed 15 of 36 passes for 188 yards and two
touchdowns before leaving the game in the fourth quarter.
His replacement – junior Drew Rindlisbacher – was even better. Rindlisbacher helped Murray match
Skyline’s second-half scoring by completing 5 of 5 passes for 127 yards, including a couple of touchdown
throws to Kamron Sanders.
With Skyline substituting freely, the second half turned into a track meet. Aragon said he was pleased that his
team never quit.
“The kids have bought in to what we’re trying to do here,” he said. “They are more committed. Maybe next
year, we’ll go to the playoffs, too.”
By Bruce Smith
For The Deseret News
MURRAY – The Skyline Eagles made sure they were
headed into next week’s 5A playoffs. They didn’t leave any
room for doubt.
The Eagles’ offense was unstoppable Friday night, scoring
each time it had the ball in the first half, and blew past
Murray 59-35 in a Region 2 game.
Quarterback Chase Dunford rushed for 87 yards, and led
’s triple-option attack that netted 338 yards rushing. The
Eagles broke the game open with a 28-point second quarter
and let the reserves play in the second half.
“We were anxious to play this game so we could avoid a
play-in game,” said Skyline coach Roger Dupaix. “We
wanted to get off to a good start. Our kids played well. We
had good precision tonight.”
With the victory, Skyline secured a spot in the 5A playoffs for
the 24th consecutive year. The Eagles finished the
regular season with a 7-3 overall mark, and 4-2 in region,
which is good enough to earn the No. 3 seed. Skyline will
play at Syracuse next week in the first round of the 5A
playoffs.
Murray coach Dan Aragon acknowledged that his team
could have forced a tiebreaker with a win. But the Spartans
had no answer for Dunford or Skyline running back Algernon
Brown, who ran for 65 yards on just four carries, and
caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Dunford.
“Offensively, they (the Eagles) were the most complete team
we played all year,” said Aragon, whose club finished its
best season since 2006 with a 3-6 overall mark. “We hope
to be like that one day.”
Dee Hamala gave the Spartans a chance. The shifty Murray
quarterback was a threat both running and passing. He was
involved in almost every play, rushing 18 times for 67 yards.
He also completed 15 of 36 passes for 188 yards and two
touchdowns before leaving the game in the fourth quarter.
His replacement – junior Drew Rindlisbacher – was even better. Rindlisbacher helped Murray match
Skyline’s second-half scoring by completing 5 of 5 passes for 127 yards, including a couple of touchdown
throws to Kamron Sanders.
With Skyline substituting freely, the second half turned into a track meet. Aragon said he was pleased that his
team never quit.
“The kids have bought in to what we’re trying to do here,” he said. “They are more committed. Maybe next
year, we’ll go to the playoffs, too.”
| GAME SUMMARY Skyline 14 28 7 10 - 59 Murray 7 0 14 14 - 35 S – Algernon Brown 2 run (Izak Yapius kick) S – Matt hew Newman 10 run (Andrus Jones kick) M – Kamron Sanders 26 pass from Dee Hamala (Zack Battenfield kick) S – Brown 46 run (Yapius kick) S – Brown 37 pass from Chase Dunford (Jones kick) S – Andy Rounds 23 run (Yapius kick) S – Dunford 1 run (Jones kick) M – Bronson Gray 9 pass from Hamala (Battenfield kick) S – Taylor Lithgow 65 run (Yapius kick) M – Hamala 24 run (Battenfield kick) S – FG Jones 18 M – Kamron Sanders 25 pass from Drew Rindlisbacher (Battenfield kick) S – Mike Pell 58 run (Yapius kick) S – Sanders 58 pass from Rindlisbacher (Battenfield kick) Team Statistics First downs – Skyline 17, Murray 17 Rushes-yards – Skyline 37-388, Murray 33-73. Passing yards – Skyline 70, Murray 316 Passes – Skyline 2-3-0, Murray 20-41-0 Fumbles lost – Skyline 1-0, Murray 3-2 Penalties – Skyline 6-58, Murray 5-54 Punts – Skyline 1-40.0, Murray 3-29.3 Individual statistics Rushing – Skyline – Dunford 9-87, Pell 5-78, Brown 4-65, Rounds 5-45, Newman 7-36, Lithgow 1-65, Ubani 1-9, Johansen 5-3. Murray – Hamala 18-67, Prestwich 5-18, Jensen 3-8, Fisihetau 3-5, Rindlisbacher 2-(-10), Sanders 1-(-1). Passing – Skyline – Dunford 2-3-0-70. Murray – Hamala 15-31-0-189, Rindlisbacher 5-5-0- 127. Receiving – Skyline – Brown 1-44, Hultquist 1-33. Murray – Sanders 7-146, Flitton 5-79, Miller 4-35, Moore 2-30, Gray 2-25. |
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