High school football: In second year, Titans grab first playoff win

SYRACUSE — If the Syracuse Titans were supposed to act nervous in their first-ever state playoff game, no one told them.

As is the case for this season of firsts, the Titans defied traditional convention and played like a storied program in slamming Kearns 42-18 in Friday's first-round matchup of the 5A state football playoffs.

After struggling through a scoreless first quarter, the Titans busted loose in the second for 21 points. Leading the way for the Titans was senior running back T.J. Blickfeldt, who steamrolled the Kearns defense for 137 yards on only 13 carries, an outstanding 10.5 yards-per-carry average en route to scoring two touchdowns rushing and another one receiving.

Blickfeldt's first big carry, a 40-yard romp that featured several great cutbacks and some broken tackles, set the Titans up nicely on the nine-yard line. He finished the drive two plays later with a touchdown run off left tackle to give Syracuse an early lead.

Also having an excellent game for the Titans was quarterback Braden Hamblin. The senior signal-caller showed great poise in the pocket, often waiting until the last possible moment to release the ball, knowing he would take a big hit.

Hamblin finished with 13-of-20 completions with two touchdown passes, and he also ran for a score on a one-yard quarterback sneak where he was initially stopped but refused to give up and lunged to barely break into the end zone.

Midway through the third quarter, the Titans added to their lead on a great 54-yard touchdown bomb from Hamblin to Sotero Perigo, who shielded the defender from the ball with his body and broke another tackle to take it to the house. That score put the Titans up 28-0, and it appeared the rout was on.

Kearns poised a brief threat late in the third quarter when it scored a touchdown, recovered the ensuing kickoff and scored another touchdown to cut the deficit to 28-12.

After forcing a Syracuse drive to stall, the Cougars found themselves with the ball marching into Titan territory with an opportunity to cut the lead to one score. That's when the Titans' Brady Green stripped the ball loose and Zach Jacobsen dove on the ball, killing any hopes of a Kearns comeback.

The Titans' defense also displayed its usual dominant form. Four times the Titans forced a turnover, and all four times the offense converted those into touchdowns.