Patriots tame the Griz, head to Cokeville for rematch

The Upton-Sundance football team began playoffs on Friday hosting Rocky Mountain. The game got off to a good start for the Patriots as their defense forced Rocky Mountain to punt it away on the first drive.

The Patriot offense was up against a tough Grizzly defense but Jayden Caylor was able to convert a third and long into a Patriot first down and get the offense going. Shortly thereafter, Jess Claycomb found his way into the end zone from 11 yards out to put the Patriots on the board first.

Back on defense, Upton-Sundance continued to hold strong as the Grizzlies pushed their second drive, which resulted in negative yardage and a punt. After a short break, the Patriot offense was back on the field and on the first play of the drive, Jayden Caylor was able to find a big hole to make a huge gain and bring the Patriots to the 30 yard-line.

Facing a third and long again, Patriot quarterback Brad Kurger is able to connect with Kye Taylor for a 32 yard touchdown. Add the extra point from Levi Rudloff, and the US Patriots are up 14-0 with 5:28 left in the first quarter.

The third drive for the Grizzlies started at the 35 and they were able to get their first first down. On the next play, they spread the Patriot defense out with double wide tight ends and gained another first down.

Back-to-back penalties on both teams set up third and five for the Grizzlies. On fourth and two Rocky Mountain was able to get a first down, but Caylor ended their drive on the next play with an interception, putting the Patriots back in business on the 30 and ending the first quarter 14-0.

The second quarter started with the Patriots scoring quickly as Jess Claycomb made a 24-yard run into the end zone, putting the Patriots up 21-0 with 11:30 left to go in the quarter. The Grizzlies took to the air on their next drive with a big pass down the left side, getting them to the 30.

Another pass for 10 yards, to the right side, put them in scoring position. Then wide receiver Austin Haslem out-battled a Patriot on a pass to the goal line, putting Rocky Mountain on the board 21-7 with 8:52 left in the half. This would prove to be the only score of the game for the Grizzlies.

The Patriots showed off their passing game on the next drive as they quickly moved down the field to the 34-yard line, where Kruger was able to connect on a beautiful rainbow pass to Taylor on the goal line, making the score 28-7, 7:31 to go.

After both teams went three and out, Rocky Mountain was back on offense on the 42. A fumble on the first play was recovered by Rocky Mountain.

After an incomplete pass, Rocky Mountain called a timeout. The timeout proved to be no help as Josiah Rudloff came up with a big sack on the next play, forcing Rocky Mountain to punt the ball away, yet again.

As the Patriot offense took over, they quickly moved down the field, but an interception by the Grizzlies gave them the ball on the 25. The Grizzly offense was able to get the ball across midfield but turned the ball over on downs at the 44 of the Patriots.

With little time left on the clock, Kruger was able to hit Caylor on a screen pass and Caylor was able to bob and weave 56 yards for another Patriot touchdown as time expired, making the score 34-7 at the half.

After the Patriots opening drive stalled out on fourth down, Rocky Mountain took over, but fumbled on the next play. While it looked like Rocky Mountain had the Patriots stopped again, on 3rd and 3, Caylor broke away for a 48-yard touchdown run, upping the score for the Patriots 41-7.

On the next few drives, both teams’ defense stiffened and stopped the movement. It was the Patriots who were able to get the momentum moving first.

On a third and long, Kruger connected with Braden Bruce for a first down and on the next play Caylor broke away for another ten yards and Claycomb punched it in from 15 yards out to make the score 47-7 with 3:24 left to go in the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw the Patriots score one more time on a Nathan Baker offensive fumble recovery to make the score 53-7 with 10:52 to go. With the clock running and subs in, Rocky Mountain made one more attempt to score.

Getting the ball down to first and goal with 4:15 on the clock, the Patriot defense held strong and denied them the end zone, winding down the game with a final score of 53-7.

The Upton-Sundance Patriots will now travel to Cokeville to try and avenge last year’s semi-final loss at 1 p.m. on Friday. Big Horn will host Southeast in the other semi-final game.

Stats from the game:

Rushing: J. Caylor 12/151 (2TD), J. Claycomb 13/128 (2TD), Kruger 7/8, E. Jones 1 /2, L. Rudloff 1/0

Passing: Kruger 7/12/182 (3TD, 1INT)

Receiving: K. Taylor 3/89 (2TD), J. Caylor 1/56 (1TD), B. Bruce 2/29, J. Claycomb 1/8

Defense:

Gillespie 25.5 (1 fumble recovery), J. Claycomb 18.5, R. Barritt 14 (1 fumble recovery), J. Caylor 13 (1 fumble recovery), B. Bruce 12 (1 sack)