Tooele started out its game great with a Jordan Clemente touchdown reception early in the second quarter, but the game went downhill from there. Payson reeled off 35 unanswered points to serve the Buffs with a 35-6 homecoming defeat.

Clemente did have 130 total yards in the game with 78 rushing and 52 receiving for Tooele. Mason Halligan and Milo Leakehe each had decent games on the ground with 35 and 32 yards rushing respectively.

After Tooele shut down Payson on their opening drive, the Buffs took the ball and marched down the field. Clemente took a pass from Chris Iorg for 47-yards and only came up six yards short of the end zone. The six yards would prove insurmountable due to a lost fumble on the next Tooele play leaving the game scoreless.

The first play of the second quarter was a 27-yard run by Clemente that put Tooele deep in Lion territory. After two consecutive incompletions however, the scoring chance appeared dwindling again but then Iorg hit Clemente again down the left sideline and he bowled over three Payson defenders for the 31-yard touchdown reception and a 6-0 Tooele lead.

Tooele’s defense shut down Payson for the first quarter and a half while holding on to their slim lead. The visiting Lions finally broke through on a sweep to the left side by Jace Harmon for a 52-yard run to pull ahead 7-6 in the second quarter.

Again turnovers hurt the Buffaloes with a fumble deep in their own territory. It only took one play as James Thompson caught a short pass from Payton Holt for a five-yard touchdown and a 14-6 lead that held up until half-time.

Coming out fired up for the second half and looking to reclaim the lead, Tooele set up to receive the ball. Unfortunately, Payson pulled out their bag of tricks and tried and recovered an onside kick.

Stunned by the onside kick, Tooele’s defense appeared to stuff the Lion offense to a fourth-and-10. In punt formation however, Payson had no intention of kicking as Tyson Allsop grabbed the snap and rumbled 31 yards and most importantly earned a first down. Seth Gabbitas added a 19-yard run and Harmon finished off the drive with a one-yard sweep to the right side for a 20-6 lead.

“We really played like we practiced during the week,” said Tooele coach Ray Groth. “We had a couple bad practices and it really carried over to the game and Payson came up ready to play.”

Midway through the third, after a stalled drive deep in their own territory Tooele lined up for a punt. Payson had other plans however, as a whole herd of Lions crashed through the line and blocked the punt and Brady Loveless was able to grab the ball and cross the goal-line for a 27-6 advantage.

With a 21-point lead heading into the final quarter Payson looked to run out the clock. They did exactly that with a 13-play drive that included a missed field goal which was recovered by the Lions and then Jeremiah Guzman trucked in eight yards for their final score of 35-6.

“That was just one of those games that we didn’t play well from the get-go.” said Groth. “There is no reason that we can’t move the ball against anybody and we just didn’t have it tonight.”

With the loss, Tooele now falls to 1-4 in Region 7 and now has with their last region battle in Provo on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com