The Tooele High quarterbacking tandem of senior Milo Leakehe and junior Nick Hyde along with solid team defense proved to be too much for visiting Stansbury High as Tooele won the first football game between the two schools on Friday night 21-14.

The Stallions had just cut Tooele’s lead to 21-14 with 2:11 left in the game and needed a three-and-out to have a chance to tie or win the game in the final minutes. But on a first-and-10 at the Tooele 20, Leakehe broke loose on a 40-yard run to the Stansbury 40 to seal Tooele’s 21-14 victory. Tooele then rushed for one more first down and was able to kill the clock to win the game.

“It was probably Milo’s best game of his career both on offense and defense,” said Tooele coach Ray Groth. “And the exciting thing about Nick is that he’s a junior and we have him back next year. Both were playing with ankle injuries.” Leakehe left the game late in the first quarter and returned midway through the second quarter.

“I rolled my ankle against Highland and it seems that somebody lands on it every game,” Leakehe said.

Tooele coach Ray Groth was pleased with his team’s performance.

“Our kids had been waiting for that game a long time with all the hoopla about Stansbury. They had a great night and played with emotion. They had fun and were determined,” the coach said.

“We’d been waiting for this game all year ever since a few of our guys left us to play at Stansbury,” Leakehe said. “Both teams were out there hitting as hard as they could.”

The Stallions and Buffaloes played before a standing-room-only crowd at Tooele High School with an extra set of bleachers put up in the north end zone to accommodate Stansbury High students.

“With all the interest in the game it bodes well for the rivalry and the community,” Groth said.

With the big crowd on hand, players from both teams were fired up and ready to compete.

The Buffaloes scored first in the game when Leakehe recovered a Stansbury fumble at the Stallions’ 23 yard line. Two plays later, Leakehe left the game with an injury and Hyde came in to replace him at quarterback. The Buffaloes could only move the ball to the 20 yard line in three plays, but on fourth-and-seven, Hyde connected with Damon Thomas out of the backfield to push the ball down to the 10.

Hyde then twisted and turned through the Stansbury defense to put the ball on the 4 yard line as time ran out in the first quarter.

A motion penalty put the ball back on the 9, and the Buffaloes faced a third-and-goal from the 7. Hyde then connected with Cameron Colovich in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of the game. DeSantiago kicked the PAT and Tooele led 7-0.

Instead of just 23 yards, Tooele needed to drive 55 yards for its second touchdown. The Buffaloes ended up burning up more than 5 minutes on the clock during the drive.

Hyde made another great run lugging the ball from his own 45 to the Stansbury 42 for a critical first down on a third-down play. Austin Schmidt then carried the ball up the middle to the 31 followed by a run to the 26 by DeSantiago.

Leakehe re-entered the game and made a crucial 4-yard fourth-down run to the 19. DeSantiago took a pitch to the 15 and Wade Heston ran to the 7. DeSantiago made a great inside move and ran the ball into the end zone to give the Buffaloes a 13-0 lead with 1:02 left until half. He then hit the PAT and Tooele led 14-0 at halftime.

Tooele got the ball right back on a turnover and had a scoring chance with 30 second left in the half, but Stansbury cornerback Gareth Anderson picked off a pass to end the threat.

A turnover by Tooele early in the third quarter led to Stansbury’s first touchdown. The Stallions’ Jazz Knighton pounced on the ball at the Tooele 33.

Lineman-turned-running back Austin Butler plowed his way 14 yards to the Tooele 19 and then quarterback Clint Peterson ran on fourth down to the 12. Butler and Peterson alternated runs and Butler scored from 2 yards out to make it 14-6. The Stallions could not connect on the PAT.

Tooele answered right back with a 63-yard drive to go up 21-6 thanks to a pair of long runs by Leakehe. Damon Thomas ran in from 4 yards out to make it 21-6 with DeSantiago’s PAT.

Stansbury’s Peterson was able to get the ball out of Tooele territory with a long run to the Stansbury 47. He then tossed the ball to Ivan Sanchez down to the Tooele 38. On a second down play, Peterson hooked up with Payeton Reed on a pass down the right sideline for a 38-yard touchdown. Peterson then ran into the end zone for a 2-point PAT to make it 21-14.

Tooele set up for an onside kick, but the Stallions kicked the ball into the end zone and Tooele started from its own 20 with 2:41 left in the game. If the Stallions could hold the Buffs deep in Tooele territory they had a chance to tie or go ahead with one more touchdown. But Leakehe broke free on the long run to seal the victory. By the end of the game Leakehe had accumulated 167 yards rushing.

Mark Watson: mwatson@tooeletranscript.com