Already, the Cowboys have accomplished something this football season they have failed to do in the past six years — win their season opener. The tailgate party was rockin’, the lights were on, and everything was working for the Cowboys last Friday night, except for the scoreboard which was knocked out by lightning during the previous night’s thunderstorms — but that didn’t bother the Cowboys as they kicked off the 2010 football season against their arch rival, the Wasatch Wasps.
Wasatch was the top pick for Region 10 by most sports writers and were at least expected to duke it out with the Park City Miners for the Region’s top honors by season’s end. Wasatch was a heavy favorite going into the 2010 Endowment game last Friday against the Cowboys, but someone forgot to tell the Grantsville players about it.
Despite all the hoopla about Wasatch, the Cowboys were there to play football. They had worked all summer in the weight room and at camps. They had studied, trained, practiced, prepared and then practiced some more. The coaches pushed the Cowboys to the brink during two-a-day practices, yet the Cowboys survived and came back for more.
Grantsville was hungry and the big pit in their stomach wasn’t going away. The Cowboys aren’t the biggest team in 3A, in fact, they’re far from it, but their conditioning and heart are as big as it gets. Friday, the Cowboys came to play a football game and play it they did.
The offense seemed a little nervous during the first half, struggling with execution and having a few too many turnovers. Defensively, however, the Cowboys were very stubborn, bending at times but never breaking. Wasatch drove several times deep into Grantsville territory, but the stingy Cowboy defense would dig in and the Wasps were left void of the end zone, except for Tyler Purdy’s two yard plunge. During the Wasp’s PAT, pressure came again from the Cowboy special teams and Jason Larson missed his kick. The Wasps took a 6-0 lead into half-time and appeared to be feeling pretty good about things.
In the Grantsville locker room it was a different story. The Cowboys didn’t feel good about the game at all, and realized that their heart and hard work ethic had all but negated the Wasps’ advantage in size and strength. The Cowboys came out the second half with all guns blazing, and it didn’t take Lincoln Kelley long to run the second half kickoff to the Wasatch 40. The Cowboys used their smaller size to their advantage giving the big lumbering Wasps fits for the rest of the night.
The Cowboys darted around Wasatch the entire second half putting pressure on Purdy, the Wasp’s premier QB while shutting down their corps of speedy running backs and receivers. Gradually, as the game progressed, the Cowboys’ conditioning was too much for Wasatch and the games ending became inevitable.
Grantsville’s offense ran the veer with increased vitality, and although they still continued to have a miscue here and there, they played well enough against a stunned Wasatch team to find the end zone twice. With the defense playing in top form that is all the Cowboys needed.
The Cowboys took it all Friday night, and all Cowboy fans found the air smelled fresher, their food tasted sweeter, and their beds were a lot softer than they had been before. That is what high school football is all about — good for you Grantsville — now you know hard work truly does pay off. I’ll see you from the sidelines.
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