High school football: Park City reverses fortunes on Rabbits

PARK CITY — Two consecutive blowout losses to open the season didn't sit well with Park City. The Miners are a team used to winning — often by big margins — and being on the other end of that equation two straight weeks was unacceptable.

"We were talking about it all week long," junior receiver Jono Schettler said. "Two losses — yeah, that affects us, but we still have to step up. Shake it off and step up."

Schettler made sure his own play matched the pregame talk. He scored an 80-yard touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter, giving Park City the first of two big touchdowns that helped the Miners rally for a 20-19 victory over Delta on Friday night.

After gaining just six yards of total offense in the third quarter, Park City (1-2) came to life when junior quarterback Paul Flake hit Schettler on a post route and he raced down the sideline 80 yards to put the Miners within six at 19-13.

Park City completed the comeback later in the quarter when the Miners forced the Rabbits (0-3) to turn the ball over on downs at the Park City 34 and then covered 66 yards in less than two minutes. Blake Thorne punched in a touchdown from 12 yards out to cap off the drive and make it 20-19 with 2:25 remaining.

"It was a big momentum changer," said Flake of his big touchdown pass that opened the quarter. "We never give up, but it definitely helped (us) get off to a (fast) start."

It definitely reversed the tide of a third quarter where everything went wrong for Park City and went right for Delta.

With the Miners clinging to a 7-6 halftime lead, the Rabbits took charge in the third quarter by capitalizing on favorable field position.

A short punt gave Delta the ball at its own 49-yard line on the team's initial possession of the half. The Rabbits cashed in with Hadley Myers finished off a seven play 51 yard drive with a 3 yard touchdown run to make it 12-7.

Kyle Church then recovered a fumble at the Park City 37 to set up another the next scoring drive, which ended in a 2 yard keeper by Colin Christensen and a 19-7 lead for Delta with 4:49 left in the third quarter.

Park City coach Kai Smalley credited his players with keeping a positive attitude that allowed them to mount a final quarter rally.

"We were never dead in the water," Smalley said.