The 1A defending state champs rolled into Kanab last Friday night, for the Cowboys’ first playoff game after a firstround bye. Looking to get revenge after a loss to the Cowboys earlier in the season, the Eagles put forth a strong effort in the first half. The Cowboys dominated the first quarter, leading 14-0 after a pair of Kason Janes touchdowns.
The tides turned in the second quarter when the Eagles dominated, putting up 20 unanswered points. The Cowboys went for it on fourth and short, and an incomplete pass to Janes with 1:55 left in the quarter turned the ball back over to the Eagles. The Eagles drew up a long pass over the middle where an Eagle receiver took it 70-yards for a touchdown. A failed 2-point conversion try would prove costly, as the Cowboys were able to hold them. At the end of the quarter with 9 seconds left, Derek Brown deflected another Eagles pass, but it fell into the Eagles hands for a 20-14 lead going into the half.
Both defenses toughened up in the third quarter after a couple of punts and defensive stops by both squads, the cowboys took over at the 12-yard line with five minutes left in the third quarter. The Cowboys went for it on fourth and short, and came up just short again. In what looked like an obvious fumble recovery by Troy Federkiel, which looked like a missed call by the refs, the Eagles threw it deep for a touchdown to go up 26-14. The excitement in the stadium shifted to the visitors’ side, but the Cowboys answered back just in time with a huge 75-yard slant play to Derek Brown that took only the amount of time for Brown to outrun the Eagles defense and with the extra point, put the Cowboys in striking distance 20-26. The Eagles dropped in a another passing touchdown which would have proved deadly, but it was called back after a huge offensive pass interference call.
The Eagles got pushed back even farther for a long fourth and 25 … Janes pressured the QB and deflected the pass to get the huge turnover on downs to get the ball back. They take over with six minutes left to do what the Cowboys do best - score under pressure. Parker Franklin came alive and took a huge run to the 50-yard line. Cowboys charged down the field on a mission and Griffen Bone ran in a QB sneak to take the 27-26 lead with a minute left. One final stop was all they needed, Janes sacked the Eagles QB on third down but the Eagles recover, to make it fourth and long for the last play of the game. But in a miraculous play by the Eagles, they were able to convert on fourth and long to get into striking distance with nine seconds left. The way the Eagles passing game had been all night, the crowd stood in shock to see if the Cowboys defense could prevail, and after two incomplete passes in the endzone, the Cowboys prevailed 27-26, pushing them into the semi-final game against Enterprise next Friday at 1 p.m. at Southern Utah University.
“Kason led the way this game for us and Griffen played well,” Coach Quarnberg said. “No style points but we survived and advanced. We are very excited to get another crack at Enterprise.”
The Eagles put up huge offensive numbers with 196 yards rushing and 373 yards passing for the Eagles for a total of 559 total yards. Kanab also had a huge offensive night, adding a lot of numbers in the fourth quarter, with Bone going six/six with 115 yards passing in the second half. The Cowboys had 161 yards rushing, and 312 passing in the air. Make the trek over to SUU for the semi-final game as the Cowboys continue their playoff run against region rival Enterprise Wolves.
