Pioneers coast to a shutout win over Dinos

LEHI — One of the signs of a really good football team is the ability to win with ease even when you are not playing very well.

If Friday night's game is any indication, the Lehi Pioneers are on the way to becoming a legitimate 3A contender. Turnovers, mistakes and poor execution hampered the Pioneers on offense for most of the evening, but the team still coasted to a 35-0 Region 8 victory over the visiting Carbon Dinos.

"Offensively, we didn't take advantage of some situations, but we did enough to get the job done," Lehi coach Joe Hayes said. "It wasn't pretty, but it was a win and that is what's important."

Even though Lehi did struggle on offense at times against the Dinos,they had no trouble scoring early. After blocking a Carbon punt less than two minutes into the game, Lehi's Anthony Turchetta scampered in from 10 yards on the ensuing play to give the Pioneers a 7-0 lead.

Bad special teams execution would plague the Dinos all night. Carbon lost starting punter Justin Blackham to a broken arm last week against Delta. His replacement performed admirably, but struggled mightily to get the ball off against the Lehi rush.

Five Carbon turnovers also compounded the Dino's troubles. The aforementioned mistakes resulted in excellent field position for Lehi all evening. When Lehi was able to put points on the scoreboard, it was usually the result of Turchetta's running.

In addition to his initial strike, Turchetta scored two other touchdowns on the ground. He also caught an 18 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Justin Hadfield.

All in all, Turchetta finished 133 rushing yards on 17 attempts.

"Anthony is an outstanding running back," Hayes said. "I was glad tosee him have a good night tonight."

While his offense did struggle at times against Carbon, Haye's defense was simply outstanding. In addition to the shutout, the team allowed just one first down in the first three quarters of play.

"Our defense has kept us in a lot of games this year," Turchetta said. "Our defense was dominant."

The win moved Lehi to 4-3 on the season, and 2-1 in Region play. Theteam will play for the Region 8 title next week when they travel toDelta, who is undefeated in region play.

"It's do or die for us," Hayes said. "We have a great opportunity infront of us. We want to play well in that game and get a win.

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