It was tough sledding for the Miners football squad Friday night in a back-and-forth nailbiter with Timpanogos at Dozier Field, but the team finally escaped late in the fourth quarter following a Brian Roberts touchdown run with less than a minute to go.
Roberts sent the Dozier stands into another frenzy on the picturesque, late-summer night. Throughout Friday, parents cheered, the student section waved Park City and American flags up in the air and latecomers spilled into the lawns at Park City High, enjoying a bite to eat, grabbing their Miners merchandise for the season and sharing time with their friends.
The statement-making, early-season win moved Park City to 2-0 this year. The team has at least three more chances to pack Dozier and eight more to lace up their cleats and strap on their helmets.
Bodily and Warner each scored in the team’s Aug. 16 season-opening win over rival Wasatch.
Head coach Josh Montzingo attributed his stifling defense’s fourth quarter slip up to some poor luck.
Montzingo huddled up with his boys and congratulated them on a gritty win he felt they earned with their hard yards this summer. He urged them to use the weekend to rest up, given the team’s lengthy four-plus hour trek to St. George this week to take on Dixie. While the Miners often have a home advantage in altitude, they will lose that this week, when the temperatures are expected to reach into triple digits Friday.
Dixie is 0-2 to start their season, suffering blowout losses to Springville and Mountain Ridge. Like Timpanogos, Dixie will come for some revenge, having lost to Park City in both the 2023 regular and postseason.
The Miners will miss their loyal supporters, many of whom in the student body rushed the field with flags Friday night while the final seconds ticked off. The team will be back at home Sept. 6 to open regional play against Hillcrest.
“Super hard-fought game,” said Montzingo Friday. “You’ve got to give them a ton of credit (the Miners defense and team). That’s a really, really good team over there.”
Montzingo is looking for his squad to keep up the physical brand of Park City football. He said that would have been easy to abandon Friday after getting scored on and potentially rattled. Montzingo sees Dixie as another opportunity to out-physical someone, as well as to keep improving and add in little wrinkles.
Bodily said he loved the physicality he saw from his teammates Friday, especially on the defensive side when the moment got big. He credited strength coach Matt Herhal and speed coach Dave Yocum for sharpening the team and improving their second and third lines.
“Our last touchdown was with our second string fullback,” said Bodily. “Just a great game.”
Both Bodily and Warner know they can take it to Dixie and any team in the state, so long as they stay focused and bring their A-game.
Warner is stepping into a more prominent leadership role this year with graduated star running back Will McCurdy no longer in the fold. Warner closed out the huddle Friday as requested by his head ball coach.
The team evidently has their sites set towards the state semifinals and finals in October at Utah’s Rice-Eccles Field, where they faltered last fall. On whether this year’s team can get over the hump for a program-first state title, Warned exclaimed, “Yessir, absolutely.”
