South Summit held Grand to just 172 yards of total offense as it marched into the 2A championship game with an easy 2A semifinal win.
OGDEN — The stage might’ve been a bit bigger than usual for South Summit in the 2A semifinals, but the result was the same as always.
Top-ranked South Summit overwhelmed Grand both offensively and defensively for four quarters at Weber State on Saturday en route to the easy 47-9 victory.
The Wildcats came into the game with the top scoring offense and defense in 2A, and an average margin of victory of five TDs. Injury-riddled Grand never stood a chance.
“We just have so many players, they just can’t stop us. They just couldn’t guard us, and I felt like we just rolled right over the top of them,” said South Summit receiver Keegan Stracher.
It was a sentiment his coach echoed.
“As long as we’re healthy, we just have weapons that it’s hard for teams to match up against,” said South Summit coach Mike Grajek.
With the victory, South Summit advances to next Saturday’s 2A championship at Southern Utah at 11 a.m. against the Beaver-Delta winner.
South Summit racked up 466 yards of total offense en route to the victory, with 335 of those coming in a dominant first half.
There were numerous stars offensively in the victory. Kael Atkinson passed for 232 yards and five touchdowns in the victory, with Stracher and Parker Grajek account for two receiving TDs each. Stracher added a rushing score as well.
“We just needed to focus on keeping our heads in the game, and staying together as a team so we could get the W,” said Stracher.
Most of the second half was played with a running clock as South Summit went ahead 41-3 on a Cole Georgi 12-yard TD rush with 7:34 remaining in the third quarter.
Grand came into the game averaging 38.3 ppg with an outstanding power rushing game, something Grajek was genuinely concerned about. His defense was more than equal to the challenge as it held Grand to a season-low nine points.
“Everybody said they have the best offensive line in the state in 2A, and our kids, we just said we’ve got to stay low. We’ve got to use leverage, and I think our kids did a great job,” said Grajek.
South Summit held Grand to 172 yards of total offense, and only 141 yards rushing. The Red Devils came into the game averaging 315.8 rushing yards per game.
South Summit put the game away early with a dominant first half on Saturday, as Atkinson threw for 158 yards and four TDs.
He connected with Grajek on the first touchdown of the game, and then again later in the second quarter as the Wildcats built a 34-3 halftime lead. Stracher and Cole Reidhead also caught TD pass from Atkinson.
Stracher put a punctuation mark on the first half scoring with a 27-yard weave through Grand’s defense with eight seconds left in the half.
South Summit could’ve blown the game open earlier in the second quarter, but it fumbled the ball twice after receptions to set Grand up with decent field position. On the second fumble Grand capitalized with a 24 yard field goal by Dante Wells to cut the deficit to 28-3.
