High school football: Murray breaks 19-game losing streak

It's been a long time coming.

The Murray Spartans' 24-9 win over Taylorsville Friday night was long overdue.

The win marks the Spartans' first since the 2007 season, the first win of the season and their first win since moving to the 5A classification.

"It's huge. We've felt like we've been getting better since Day-1," said head coach Dan Aragon. "It's been a long, hard road of guys working hard in the off season. I'm really proud of our kids. They've stuck around and been loyal and put their heart and soul into it regardless."

The Spartans hit the ground running, putting points on the board within the first five minutes of the game on a six-yard touchdown run from quarterback Dee Hamala.

After a missed field-goal and an interception that resulted in a Taylorsville touchdown, however, Murray found itself down 9-7 at the half.

"We were kind of flat in the first half still which is our problem every game," Hamala said. "But today we actually finished. We felt like it was finally our time. We thought we would get it two games ago, but the other teams came out and played. We finally did what we needed to."

Having let their first-half performance hold them back in their previous two games, the Spartans were determined to make up for their slow first half, scoring two touchdowns in the third quarter.

The first came when Hamala connected with wide-receiver Kamron Sanders on a 25-yard pass and found Tyler Prestwich for the two-point conversion, giving Murray the lead they wouldn't relinquish.

Two plays later, a huge hit from Prestwich caused Andrew Toglai of Taylorsville to fumble setting Murray up for its second touchdown of the quarter, a 9-yard pass from Hamala to Wyatt Woodard.

"This was our night. We put four quarters together," said assistant coach Chuck Givens. "It's just putting four complete quarters together. They deserve this win. It's long overdue."

Murray's defense played a big role in the victory as the Spartans forced two fumbles, an interception and had the Warriors punting on six of their 15 drives.

"Our main thing on defense is we like to play nasty," said linebacker Tyler Prestwhich "We like to play intense, hit hard. We really stepped it up this game."

The Spartans final score of the game came from a field-goal by Zack Battenfield late in the fourth quarter.

Taylorsville has yet to get a win this season and has won just six games in the past five years.

While both teams had a lot to play for, perhaps the Spartans had the extra motivation needed to push them over the edge.

That motivation came in the form of sophomore Rayce Bryan, who underwent brain surgery shortly before the game to relieve swelling in one of his ventricles.

Many members of the team had No. 16 written on their arms, Bryan's number.

"The guys wanted to come out and play hard for him," Aragon said. "He's a great example to the school and the program. He's everything we want in a Murray football player. It was good they had a little extra motivation tonight."