High school football: Park City shuts out Judge

DRAPER — Park City began the season with one idea in mind: win a state championship. And truth be told, the idea was viewed by many as a realistic possibility. So much, in fact, many preseason predictions had the Miners being the belle of the 3A ball.

Judge Memorial also began the season with state-championship aspirations. Coming within one game of accomplishing that goal last season left the Bulldogs wanting. And like Park City, the possibility of having a shot to win it all wasn't viewed as much of a stretch.

Friday these two preseason powerhouses faced off, but perhaps with a new idea in mind — to get their respective seasons on track.

With both teams entering Friday's contest with 2-4 records, it was the Park City Miners who come out on top by beating the Judge Bulldogs 16-0.

"This is a great win, Judge is our biggest rival. We played through the whole game with heart and passion. This was a big game for us," said junior quarterback Erik Walker.

Park City was able to strike first and finally put some points on the board with a 47-yard field goal at 1:07 left in the first quarter. Once the Miners were able to score, their offense began to settle down.

Once settled down, the Miners stuck with a healthy dose of running. With 7:28 left in the half, junior running back Dylan Chynoweth was able to make a shifty move on the Bulldog defense to break loose for a 55-yard gain that brought his team all the way down to the 10-yard line. Two plays later, Walker broke through the middle for an 8-yard TD run to cap the drive. A blocked kick left the score 9-0 in favor of the Miners.

Judge came into the game with well-documented struggles on the offensive side of the ball. And the first half was an indication that those struggles have continued. The Bulldogs were only able to muster 27 yards of total offense in the first half.

As bad as the first half was for the Bulldogs, the second half was even worse. Judge added only seven additional yards the entire half to finish with 34 yards of total offense on the night, all of which was rushing.

Six penalties, three fumbles and two interceptions helped paint an accurate picture of why Judge is struggling so much.

Judge miscues allowed Park City to have favorable field position all night long.

Park City experienced some struggles of its own but managed to find the end zone one more time in the fourth quarter. As the Miners were lined up for a field goal, the anxious Judge line jumped offside, giving Park City the first down. The next play, Walker fooled the defense by keeping the ball on a deceptive fake handoff to run it safely eight yards for his second TD of the night.