’Diggers drop opener, 34-0

By The Standard Staff - 09/03/2006

Cedar City, Utah — The Montana Tech football team couldn’t finish what it started Saturday night.

The Orediggers’ best scoring chance was stopped at the 1-yard line, and the No. 10 team in the NAIA dropped a 34-0 decision to NCAA I-AA Southern Utah at Eccles Coliseum.

After falling down 10-0 in the first quarter, the Orediggers threatened to pull within a field goal. But a fourth-and-goal attempt was stopped at the 1-yard line.

The Thunderbirds responded with a 99-yard drive that broke the game open.

“That was big,” Tech coach Bob Green said in a cell phone interview from the team bus.

Green said he thought his team had a safety a play before a long pass play that sparked the scoring march that was capped by a Kyle Coop 2-yard run.

“The officials did a great job but I thought we had a safety there,” Green said. “It looked like a safety from the sideline.” Quarterback Wes Marshal hit Joey Hew Len on a 6-yard TD pass 20 seconds before halftime, and the Thunderbirds took a 24-0 advantage into halftime.

“We made some coverage errors in the first half that hurt,” Green said. “The last two and a half or three quarters we locked on them pretty well.

“But they got on us with their skill kids early.” Marshall competed an amazing 21 of 25 passes (84 percent) for 301 yards and three touchdowns.

Green said he was pleased with his quarterback, sophomore Justin Kegel, even though the Orediggers didn’t dent the scoreboard.

“He did a good job,” Green said. “Pass protection held up pretty well. We moved the football. We’ve just got to finish drives.” Kegel completed 7 of 18 passes for 79 yards. He was picked off once.

Casey Kelly hauled in three passes for 23 yards, while Alex Grevas gained 27 yards on two receptions.

Corey Warner was the top rusher for Tech with 42 yards on 11 carries. Teague Egan, who caught one pass for 21 yards, added 16 on the eight carries, while freshman Drew Savage rushed for 12 yards on four carries.

“I thought our offensive and See DIGGERS, Page B5 defensive front played well,” Green said. “The strength of our football team is going to be our offensive and defensive front, and we certainly displayed that.” The Orediggers were unable to capitalize on several Souther Utah mistakes.

The Thurnderbirds fumbled four times, but recovered each time. Also, the team was called for 13 penalties for 131 yards.

“We got bucked off the horse,” Green said. “We’ve just got to get back up and get ready to ride again.

“I believe we came out injury free and Southern Utah has a good football team.” The Orediggers begin a 10-week span where they play 10 Frontier Conference games next Saturday when they head to Billings to take on Rocky Mountain College.

Montana Tech 0 0 0 0 — 0 S. Utah 10 14 7 3 — 34 First Quarter So. Utah — Larue Burley 5 pass from Wes Marshall (Jordan Ortiz kick), 10:03.

So. Utah — FG Ortiz 46, 4:04.

Second Quarter So. Utah — Kyle Coop 2 run (Ortiz kick), 6:14.

So. Utah — Joey Hew Len 6 pass from Marshall (Ortiz kick), :20.

Third Quarter So. Utah — Landon Beus 18 pass from Marshall (Ortiz kick), 7:49.

Fourth Quarter So. Utah — FG Ortiz 29, 1:56.

A-6,187.

MT SU First downs 11 21 Rushes-yards 30-35 39-134 Passing 79 335 Comp-Att-Int 7-18-1 25-31-0 Return Yards 3 37 Punts-Avg. 6-40.7 2-37.0 Fumbles-Lost 1-1 4-0 Penalties-Yards 2-16 13-131 Time of Possession 27:35 32:25 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — Montana Tech, Corey Warner 11-42, Teague Egan 8-16, Drew Savage 4-12, Casey Kelly 1-3, Hunter Kerkes 1-3, Jens Jensen 1-1, Justin Kegel 3-(-14), Team 1-(-28). S. Utah, Kyle Coop 16-44, Brandon Godfrey 5-33, Johnny Sanchez 10-29, Wes Marshall 4-18, Jamar Lee 3-14, Beus 1-(-4).

PASSING — Montana Tech, Kegel 7-18-1-79. S. Utah, Marshall 21-25-0-301, Godfrey 4-6-0-34.

RECEIVING — Montana Tech, Kelly 3-23, Alex Grevas 2-27, Egan 1-21, Koa Bartlett 1-8. S. Utah, Joey Hew Len 7-120, Ryan Higgins 4-36, Larue Burley 3-44, Matthew Jacobsen 2-27, Sanchez 2-23, Bobby Pond 2-16, Brett Johansen 1-27, Landon Beus 1-18, Lee 1-14, Ryan Griffith 1-7, Craig Gritton 1-3.