By Jon Benton
For the Tribune
SPRINGVILLE — Springville got their first win of the season on Oct. 6 at home, as they stunned the visiting Hayden Wildcats.
It was a tale of two halves for the Springville Tigers’ first win of the 2017 football season. The first half was a series of mistakes that led to a 20-0 halftime deficit. The second half was their best half of the season, and led them to a 21-20 comeback win over Hayden.
The catalyst for their comeback was a series of fumbles by the Wildcats, and Springville took advantage of all of them.
“We had a couple of games earlier in the year where we forced turnovers, but we never got them,” coach Steven Davis said. “We got ’em tonight!”
Springville (1-5) opted to predominantly pass the ball in the second half, and it opened up their offense. Quarterback Austin Hutcheson ended the game with 316 yards passing, with 19 of 28 attempts being completed.
The three touchdown drives for Springville all came on drives of 80 or more yards. Springville’s first touchdown, which came after a controversial fumble by Hayden, came on a strike to Bradlee Cole.
After another fumble recovery, this time on a fourth down play at the goal line, Springville went down the field in two plays and scored again. Caldwell caught a pass on the sideline to set up a 53 yard touchdown catch by Jace Hayes.
After forcing a punt, Hayes caught a 45 yard pass to get Springville past midfield. Hutcheson then found Caldwell for a 30 yard completion to get the Tigers to the three yard line. Hutcheson then ran the football into the end zone on the next play.
Hayden (2-4) had a chance to win the game at the end, but a costly drop, followed by an overthrow, made the Wildcats desperate. Casey Tittle then intercepted Wildcats quarterback Sheridan Miller with 13 seconds left to seal the win.
Davis noted that his team has a lot of confidence following this win. “If we play hard, play together, and do what we’re supposed to do, we’ve got a chance to beat anybody.
Springville had some offensive production in the first half, but constantly got in their own way. Their first play from scrimmage was a snap over the quarterback’s head, which resulted in a 17 yard loss.
One particularly unfortunate sequence of events for the Tigers came at the end of the first quarter. After two fumbled snaps, Springville got what appeared to be a big play, but the runner fumbled the ball at the end of the play, turning the ball over.
Hayden struck very quickly, scoring two touchdowns in just over four minutes at the beginning of the game. The first touchdown, set up by a long run from Cameron Nelson, was punched in from two yards out by Kenneth Turner.
A few minutes after, Sheridan Miller found Dylan Fraiser on a 31 yard bomb.
In a quiet second quarter, a 61 yard run from Turner was the only score until halftime.
Springville will play John Carroll Catholic next week.