San Juan football team falls short of third straight win in Grantsville

It was a battle of 3-1 teams in Grantsville on Friday, September 11 when the Cowboys welcomed the San Juan Broncos to town. Grantsville was looking to extend a three-game win streak and San Juan was trying for three wins in a row for the first time this season.

The Cowboys broke through four minutes into the game when running back Blake Thomas gashed San Juan for 78 yards right up the middle of the field.

The Broncos answered just over six minutes later on a 14-yard pass from Jace Palmer to Cooper Black with 1:42 left in the first quarter.

The Cowboys retook the lead with the only score in the second quarter – a 17-yard field goal by Nate Wright. And that was all the offense in the first half. San Juan trailed just 10-7 after 24 minutes of play, and it was anybody’s game when the two teams took the field for the second half.

Nearly immediately it was evident the Broncos’ hands were full with the Cowboys. Grantsville took just 1:23 to stretch their lead when quarterback Caleb Sullivan ran the ball from the midfield line to the house.

San Juan was unable to sustain a drive, and Grantsville went up 25-7 when Thomas ran another TD in from the one-yard-line with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter and Sullivan added a two-point conversion on a botched PAT.

Grantsville got a defensive stop, promptly drove the ball downfield on the Broncos, and punched in another Thomas touchdown from two yards out to make the score 32-7 at the end of the third.

San Juan never quit. They rallied to finally find pay dirt again with a 13-yard pass from Palmer to Black 3:40 into the final frame. But Grantsville answered with their final TD of the night just four minutes later to close out a 34-19 win.

The battle was won for the Cowboys in the trenches. Their offensive and defensive lines are anchored by Branson Yager, who will play for the Nebraska Cornhuskers starting next season.

He has a lot of help, and the Grantsville offensive line was able to open holes for Thomas and Sullivan all night. Defensively, the Cowboys pressured San Juan quarterback Jace Palmer on almost every play.

Grantsville running back Blake Thomas carried the ball 23 times for 181 yards and three touchdowns. Conversely, San Juan running back Jensen Grover was only able to muster 37 yards on 11 carries.

Palmer completed just 21 of 46 pass attempts for the Broncos, but he did throw for two touchdowns. Unfortunately, he also threw two interceptions on the night. Cooper Black caught nine Palmer passes for 105 yards and the two TDs.

Cowboy quarterback, junior Caleb Sullivan was 12 for 20 passing for 104 yards and one interception, but he ran the ball for 92 yards on San Juan and scored a touchdown on the ground.

The Broncos will look to get back in the win column when they welcome South Sevier to the San Juan High School football field this Friday, September 18 for the 2020 edition of the homecoming game.

The Rams come into the game 0-5. It’s a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday night. Listen to the live broadcast on Redrock 92.7 FM starting with the pregame at 6:30.

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