The #6 Summit Storm were tested in every aspect of the game, as they held off the pugnacious 25th ranked Marist Spartans, winning 14-13 in Friday night’s game.
Summit avenges two straight losses to Marist dating back to last fall, and a defeat in the OSAA Playoffs, and in preseason in 2013.
Marist put together a modest drive to start the game, gaining a first down before punter Drew Lara (Jr, 5-11, 170) launched a 59 yard punt. Summit mounted a long drive on their first possession, before turning the ball over on downs.
Marist’s QB, Justin Kearney (Sr, 6-0, 180) took over the next drive, running 3 times for 67 yards, including a 17 yard option keeper for the game’s first touchdown, giving the Spartans a 7-0 lead.
Summit responded with a 4 play scoring drive, which ended with a 46 yard pass from QB John Bledsoe (Jr, 6-3, 185) to TE Grant Tobias (Jr, 6-2, 195). Both the pass and the receiver perfectly split a pair of Marist defenders, and after a successful PAT, the game was tied at 7.
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Midway through the 2nd quarter, Summit was pinned on their own 7 yard line by one of Lara’s 3 punts that ended inside the 20.
Several short passes set up an onslaught of runs by RB Dawson Ruhl (Jr, 5-10, 160), all to the right side of the field. RB Jacob Thompson (Sr, 5-11, 200) was then able to reverse field, cutting back to the left for a 35 yard run to give the Storm a 14-7 lead, which they would take into halftime.
The defenses for both teams clamped down in the 3rd quarter. 5 straight drives saw ball movement by both teams, but ended with no additional scoring.
With 10:20 left in the 4th quarter, Marist was desperate for a score. On a crucial 3rd and 17, Lara, who lined up at WR, caught a lateral, and found Dustin Jones (Sr, 5-11, 170) for a 51 reception.
The drive was finished by RB Austin Korth (Sr, 5-11, 165), who ran the ball in for a 7 yard score with 4:43 remaining. Summit was able to maintain their lead with a spectacular blocked PAT attempt.
Summit ran nearly 4 minutes off the clock before punting to Marist, who had 46 seconds to score.
Marist converted several highly contested passed to advance to the Summit 32 yard line. With 1 second remaining, Kearney was unable to get the Hail Mary pass off, as he was sacked by a crowd of Summit players.
After the hard-fought win, Summit (3-1) will travel across town to take on the winless Mountain View Cougars (0-4) to kickoff IMC-Intermountain Conference play.
Marist (2-2_ will host the undefeated Crater Comets (4-0) in their homecoming game begin Midwestern League play.
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