Something magical must be happening to the Grantsville offense when they enter the locker room at halftime of their games. For the second game in a row to start the season, the Cowboys have been stagnant offensively for the first 24 minutes only to come out of the tunnel like a locomotive in the second half.

Bridger Boman led the way in the second half by rushing for a pair of touchdowns and throwing another to Dalen Erickson to out-score North Sanpete 22-0 in the second half for a come-from-behind 28-7 victory Friday night in Mount Pleasant.

The win helps the Cowboys start out the season 2-0 and gives Grantsville High School their 350th football win in school history.

Bryce Ekins had a strong second half as he led the Cowboys with 66 yards on the ground while Boman added 60 yards of his own with a pair of touchdowns. Defense again set the tone against the passing game of North Sanpete as Lincoln Kelley picked off two passes from Rhett Bird and ran one back 98 yards for the first score of the game. Derek Jensen grabbed the other pick to abruptly end a drive and give the Cowboys good field position.

Even though North Sanpete gained more total yards than Grantsville, the Cowboys dominated on the ground by rushing for 151 yards compared to just 59 for the Hawks.

North Sanpete put together an impressive drive after taking the opening kickoff. Grantsville had a little trouble stopping the arm and the legs of Hawk quarterback Bird. After a pivotal completion to Cameron Weston and runs by Bird and Taylor Walk, North Sanpete got the ball as close as 11 yards away from a score.

After consecutive penalties however, North Sanpete looked to pass as Bird threw a ball that was deflected right into the arms of Kelley. Using his returning skills, Kelley scurried up the field and crossed back to the other side and soon found himself crossing the end zone for a 98-yard interception return for a quick 6-0 lead.

Both team struggled offensively the rest of the first quarter as North Sanpete punted twice after their initial possession and Grantsville turned the ball over on downs at midfield after a failed attempt at a fourth-and-2 conversion.

“North Sanpete was loading the box on us in the first half,” Grantsville coach Tony Cloward. “They came out and stuck everybody in the gap.”

Both teams traded punts until North Sanpete started a drive on their own 45 with 4:05 left in the half. Bird stuck strictly to passing on the drive hitting Weston for 28 yards and Kaden Poulson for 22 to get deep in Cowboy territory.

On second down from 10 yards out, Bird scrambled to his left and found Poulson again, this time in the end zone, as the Hawks took a 7-6 lead with 3:16 left in the half. Granstville couldn’t get anything going with the remaining time in the first half as they only gained 58 total yards in the opening 24 minutes and trailing 7-6 at the half.

The second half was starting to resemble the first half until another interception from Kelley and his return and a facemask penalty from North Sanpete helped spark the Cowboy offense.

After the Kelley pick, Grantsville took the ball 15 yards away from a score and two plays later Boman took a quarter sneak up the middle for a 12-yard touchdown. Ekins ran in a two-point conversion to put the Cowboys up 14-7.

“In the second half, (Bryce) Ekins came alive as he used his speed to get around the edge,” Cloward said. “Bridger (Boman) was also effective in seeing when they would pull their linebackers outside.”

Again an interception helped kick start the offense for Grantsville as Jensen jumped a route of the Bird pass and return his pick over 30 yards. Twenty yards from the score, Boman again saw holes in the North Sanpete defensive line and ran his quarterback sneak play to perfection. From six yards out, Boman again pushed his way to his second touchdown of the half and gave the Cowboys a 21-7 lead with 6:37 left in the game.

“They kept leaving the sneak open and the coaches give me the green light if that happens,” said Grantsville quarterback Boman. “We are a second half team but we do need to put four quarters together soon.”

Desperate for a score, North Sanpete went for a fourth down deep in their territory and it didn’t work out too well for the Hawks, giving the Cowboys good field position.

In position to ice the game, Grantsville called a pass play when North Sanpete was expecting a run and Boman got the ball off just in time before getting sacked. The floating Boman pass found Erickson all alone down the field for a 32 yard touchdown and a commanding 28-7 lead with 4:05 left.

Sacks by Dakota Leetham and Max Cook on the ensuing North Sanpete drive ensured that the Hawks would not be scoring any more points as Grantsville ran out the clock to close out the game.

Grantsville will be on the road when they travel to Fillmore to face Millard on Friday at 7 p.m.

Jake Gordon: jgordon@tooeletranscript.com