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South Summit football earns big road win

Isaac Tillett, shown here during a game last year, scored twice for South Summit, on runs of 53 and 26 yards, in a season-opening 26-7 victory at San Juan.
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Going down to San Juan and winning a football game is never an easy task, but the South Summit Wildcats made it look a little less painful than normal on Friday night in a season-opening 26-7 victory.

The key to the game, according to Coach Aaron Tillett, was ball control. San Juan never had possession long enough to gain any momentum, he said.

"Offensively, San Juan ran 42 plays in the game and we ran 38 plays in the first half alone," he said.

Tillett credited quarterback Nick Beasley for making the right decisions with the ball in the Wildcats’ option scheme.

"Nick really made great decisions all night," he said. "We ask a lot of our quarterback. He did a fantastic job and was in total control of the offense."

The scoring started with Isaac Tillett, the coach’s son. Tillett scored on a 53-yard run in the first quarter. Tillett also scored the final touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter on a 26-yard run. Parker Grajek and Jordan Miller found the end zone for the other two Wildcat touchdowns, from 12 yards and 19 yards out, respectively.

Miller, who does most of his running between the tackles, had a great game, Tillett said, doing exactly what South Summit needs from its fullback.

"Jordan Miller really played a tough game, a blue-collar game," he said. "He broke a couple double-digit runs, but most of them were gritty 4-6 yard runs and that’s what we need. If Jordan can hold down the middle and take the punishment, it opens things up for the wings."

Isaac Tillett and Grajek benefitted from plenty of running room, as did a couple other backs, Aaron Tillett said.

"Isaac broke one and had one called back, too," he said. "And Brady Bess was one player away from breaking one. That was nice to see."

Defensively, Tillett said he was pleased to see a unit full of new starters step up in a big way in a tough road game.

"That probably, to me, was the biggest surprise," he said. "We didn’t have one returning starter on defense. There were mistakes made, but what happened was 11 kids played hard and rallied to the ball. You can overcome a lot of mistakes that way."

The Wildcats were also the smaller team, but Tillett said that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

"Our speed really showed," he said. "We had way better speed and that really helped us. I’ll take speed any day of the week."

Overall, despite a lot of turnover from last year’s 2A state champion squad, Tillett said things went pretty smoothly for the Wildcats.

"It was a complete team effort and that’s what I was happy about," he said. "Everyone made plays and everyone made mistakes, but we’ll fix those. I don’t think anyone is completely happy with that game, but it’s a good start to the season. We’ll keep working and improving."

South Summit (1-0) will take on 3A Morgan next week, the team that handed the Wildcats their only loss in 2014. Though it’s a chance for South Summit to make up for last year’s loss, Tillett said he’s more excited for the chance to take on a physical opponent.

"I think they’re excited, but we’re trying to look at it as just another opponent," he said. "Morgan’s big and physical and the last four years we’ve played them, that’s the way it’s been. It’s really good for us to get involved in a game like that. They physical side of a game with Morgan really tests us. I’m excited to see how we stack up."

Friday night’s game in Kamas is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. at South Summit High School.


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