GHS plays at Davis High today in three-way playoff bid against Ben Lomond, Bear River

With Morgan already sealing up the Region 11 football title and Grantsville needing a win to almost guarantee a playoff berth, the Cowboys knew this game was huge. However, the Trojans rose to the occasion in a 40-0 pounding of Grantsville in Morgan.

Alex Childs rushed for 68 yards and earned every single one of his yards on all 17 of his carries. Morgan however, used their own brand of a punishing running attack behind Jakob Kinsey who had 83 yards and four total touchdowns and Dayton Smith who totaled 98 yards and a score on the ground.

Morgan started out lightning quick. After surprisingly declining a Grantsville penalty for kicking the opening kickoff out of bounds, which forced the Cowboys to re-kick. The Trojans must of had plenty of faith in their return game as Kinsey took the kickoff 80-yards for the first score of the game 7-0.

After a quick Grantsville three-and-out, Morgan got the ball back and went to work. Smith earned two big runs, churning out gains of nine and eight yards respectively to set up Kinsey again with an eight-yard run. On the touchdown run, Kinsey appeared to stop short in a huddle of Grantsville tacklers but broke free for the score and a 14-0 Morgan lead.

Thanks to a roughing the kicker penalty against Morgan, Grantsville achieved their initial first down of the game mid-way through the first quarter. A 25-yard run by Childs got the Cowboys down to the Morgan 30-yard line. However, they didn’t get much closer than that as Ben Van Campen intercepted a Grantsville pass to end the scoring threat.

With a great punt return near the end of the first quarter, Morgan got the ball only 34 yards away from the score. In a drive mostly dominated by run plays, Smith was able to cap off the drive on a direct snap/reverse play that was good for a 12-yard TD run and a 21-0 early in the second.

“I was impressed with the athleticism of Morgan,” said Grantsville football coach Tony Cloward. “They brought the house on defense and we had a hard time picking up all the blocks necessary.”

Even though they spent a lot of time on the field, the Cowboy defense never let up in the trenches. In fact in two consecutive Morgan possessions, Grantsville was able to come up with back-to-back fumble recoveries, one by Kort Fonger early in the second.

Trying to get their offense jump-started, Grantsville tried a fake punt but the pass sailed incomplete, giving the ball back to Morgan with great field position.

Morgan didn’t waste that opportunity as Smith and Kinsey teamed up on a two-play drive with Kinsey on a sweep to the right side wrapping up a 28-0 heading into half-time.

Things didn’t work out any better for Grantsville in the second half. In fact, Morgan seemed to be catching all the breaks.

On the Trojans first drive, A fumbled snap by quarterback Matt Largent turned into a eight-yard touchdown catch by Blake Haddock for the 34-0 lead.

Morgan was able to get in front of Grantsville’s receivers on their next drive to earn their second interception, which they quickly turned into points. Again the tandem of Smith and Kinsey scorched the Cowboys on the ground with Kinsey again getting a touchdown with a seven-yard score up the middle for a 40-0 lead.

The good news for the Cowboys was that they were able to stop the Trojans from scoring for the rest of the game. The bad news is that, their offense was unable to manufacture any points themselves.

With the loss, Grantsville falls to 1-4 in Region 11 play which puts them in a deadlock tie for fourth place in region standings. A three-way playoff will take place today at Davis High School between the Cowboys, Bear River and Ben Lomond for the honor of traveling to Hurricane to faced the ranked Tigers.

“Judging how practice has went this week, I have a pretty good feeling that we do not want to end our season in this play-in game,” said Cloward. “I get the impression that we will make playoffs.”

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com